You receive a sample slide of an organism. While observing it under a microscope, you notice that the organism is single-celled and green in color. There are multiple individual organisms on the slide. Based on this initial information, you guess that it is either a bacterium or a protist. Which trait is least likely to help you identify the correct group of this organism? (1 point)

Question

Responses

the absence of a nucleus
the absence of a nucleus

the absence of cell structure membranes
the absence of cell structure membranes

the presence of different cell shapes
the presence of different cell shapes

the presence of cell structures in the cell
the presence of cell structures in the cell

Answer 1

The trait that is least likely to help you identify the correct group of this organism is the presence of different cell shapes.

While bacteria can exhibit various shapes (cocci, bacilli, spirilla), protists are generally more diverse in terms of morphology and can also exhibit different shapes. Therefore, this trait is not necessarily definitive in distinguishing between the two groups based on the information provided. The other traits listed are more directly tied to distinguishing characteristics between bacteria (prokaryotic, generally lacking membrane-bound organelles and a nucleus) and protists (eukaryotic, typically with membrane-bound organelles and a nucleus).