1. Which of the following statements comparing bacteria and eukaryotes is true?

Question

A. Eukaryotic cells have a nucleus surrounded by a nuclear membrane; bacterial cells don't.
B. Eukaryotic cells don't have cell wall; many bacterial cells do.
C. The genetic material of eukaryotic cells is DNA; the genetic material of bacteria can be either RNA or DNA.
D. Eukaryotic cells use a different code to specify the amino acids in proteins than bacterial cells.

Answer 1

The true statement comparing bacteria and eukaryotes is:

A. Eukaryotic cells have a nucleus surrounded by a nuclear membrane; bacterial cells don't.

Here's an explanation of the other options:

B. Eukaryotic cells typically do have cell walls (in plants and fungi), while many bacterial cells have cell walls made of peptidoglycan. Thus, this statement is misleading because it overlooks some eukaryotic cells.

C. The genetic material of eukaryotic cells is DNA, and the genetic material of bacteria is also DNA. Therefore, this statement is incorrect.

D. Both eukaryotic and bacterial cells use the same genetic code to specify amino acids in proteins, so this statement is also incorrect.