Your teacher gives you an unknown bacterium to observe. Select the method that would help you determine whether the bacterium is a chemotroph.(1 point)

Question

Responses

growing the bacterium in an agar tube filled with protein to see if it breaks the organic molecules down
growing the bacterium in an agar tube filled with protein to see if it breaks the organic molecules down

exposing the bacterium to direct sunlight to see if it converts light to chemical energy
exposing the bacterium to direct sunlight to see if it converts light to chemical energy

exposing the bacterium to carbon dioxide to see if it fixes carbon
exposing the bacterium to carbon dioxide to see if it fixes carbon

growing the bacterium in a sulfur solution to see if it breaks the inorganic molecules down

Answer 1

To determine whether the unknown bacterium is a chemotroph, the most appropriate method would be:

growing the bacterium in a sulfur solution to see if it breaks the inorganic molecules down.

Chemotrophs are organisms that obtain energy by oxidizing inorganic or organic molecules. By testing the bacterium in a sulfur solution, you can observe if it can utilize inorganic compounds as an energy source, which is indicative of chemotrophic metabolism. The other options either test for phototrophy (using light as energy) or focus on organic molecules, which would not specifically determine if the bacterium is a chemotroph.