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Q59 (IAS/2016) Science & Technology › Basic Science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) › Microbiology and immunity Official Key

Which of the following statements is/are correct? Viruses can infect 1. bacteria 2. fungi 3. plants Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Result
Your answer: —  ·  Correct: D
Explanation

The correct answer is option D because all three statements are correct.

Viruses may infect plants, animals, or bacterial cells and may cause a disease.[2] This confirms that viruses can infect both bacteria (statement 1) and plants (statement 3).

For fungi, viruses that infect fungi are called mycoviruses.[3] Additionally, chrysoviridae infect fungi, and they also infect plants and possibly insects,[4] and the genus Gammapartitivirus only infects fungi.[5] This confirms statement 2.

Viruses are different from other microorganisms since they reproduce only inside the host organism.[6] This characteristic allows them to infect various types of living cells, including bacteria, fungi, and plants. Therefore, all three statements are correct, making option D the right answer.

Sources
  1. [1] Science ,Class VIII . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: The Invisible Living World: Beyond Our Naked Eye > Ever heard of ... > p. 17
  2. [2] Science ,Class VIII . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: The Invisible Living World: Beyond Our Naked Eye > Ever heard of ... > p. 17
  3. [3] https://microbiologysociety.org/blog/keeping-up-with-virus-taxonomy-viruses-that-infect-fungi.html
  4. [4] https://microbiologysociety.org/blog/keeping-up-with-virus-taxonomy-viruses-that-infect-fungi.html
  5. [5] https://microbiologysociety.org/blog/keeping-up-with-virus-taxonomy-viruses-that-infect-fungi.html
  6. [6] Science ,Class VIII . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: The Invisible Living World: Beyond Our Naked Eye > Snapshots > p. 24
How others answered
Each bar shows the % of students who chose that option. Green bar = correct answer, blue outline = your choice.
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PROVENANCE & STUDY PATTERN
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Don’t just practise – reverse-engineer the question. This panel shows where this PYQ came from (books / web), how the examiner broke it into hidden statements, and which nearby micro-concepts you were supposed to learn from it. Treat it like an autopsy of the question: what might have triggered it, which exact lines in the book matter, and what linked ideas you should carry forward to future questions.
Q. Which of the following statements is/are correct? Viruses can infect 1. bacteria 2. fungi 3. plants Select the correct answer using …
At a glance
Origin: Books + Current Affairs Fairness: Moderate fairness Books / CA: 6.7/10 · 3.3/10
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This is a classic 'NCERT-plus-Logic' question. While NCERT Class VIII explicitly lists bacteria and plants as hosts, the fungi option requires you to apply the definition of a virus (obligate parasite needing a host cell) to the fact that fungi are cellular organisms. Don't hunt for obscure journals; trust the basic definitions.

How this question is built

This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.

Statement 1
Are there viruses that infect bacteria (bacteriophages)?
Origin: Direct from books Fairness: Straightforward Book-answerable
From standard books
Science ,Class VIII . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: The Invisible Living World: Beyond Our Naked Eye > Ever heard of ... > p. 17
Presence: 5/5
“Viruses are microscopic and acellular. Viruses multiply when they enter a living cell. They may infect plants, animals, or bacterial cells and may cause a disease.”
Why this source?
  • Explicitly states viruses may infect plants, animals, or bacterial cells.
  • Links viral multiplication to entry into a living cell, implying bacteriophage activity when the host is bacterial.
Science ,Class VIII . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: The Invisible Living World: Beyond Our Naked Eye > Snapshots > p. 24
Presence: 4/5
“Plant, fungal, and bacterial cells have an extra covering, called a cell wall, around the cell membrane. Bacteria lack a well-defined nucleus.• Cells differ in shape and size. Their shape is related to the function performed by them.• Bacteria, fungi, and protozoa are different kinds of microorganisms.• Viruses are also small in size, but they are different from other microorganisms since they reproduce only inside the host organism.”
Why this source?
  • Notes that viruses reproduce only inside a host organism, supporting the mechanism by which they infect cells.
  • Places viruses in context with bacterial cells in the same section (cell types), reinforcing host–virus interaction concepts.
Science , class X (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 5: Life Processes > p. 79
Presence: 3/5
“In fact, viruses do not show any molecular movement in them (until they infect some cell), and that is partly why there is a controversy about whether they are truly alive or not. Why are molecular movements needed for life? We have seen in earlier classes that living organisms are well-organised structures; they can have tissues, tissues have cells, cells have smaller components in them, and so on. Because of the effects of the environment, this organised, ordered nature of living structures is very likely to keep breaking down over time. If order breaks down, the organism will no longer be alive.”
Why this source?
  • States viruses remain inactive until they infect some cell, consistent with how bacteriophages act upon bacteria.
  • Supports the obligate intracellular nature of viruses, a key property of bacteriophages.
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