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) Responses 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 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 growing the bacterium in a sulfur solution to see if it breaks the inorganic molecules down growing the bacterium in a sulfur solution to see if it breaks the inorganic molecules down exposing the bacterium to direct sunlight to see if it converts light to chemical energy

Answer 1

To determine whether the unknown bacterium is a chemotroph, you should select the method of growing the bacterium in an agar tube filled with protein to see if it breaks the organic molecules down.

Chemotrophs obtain energy by breaking down organic or inorganic molecules, and observing the bacterium's ability to utilize proteins (organic molecules) would help in establishing whether it can metabolize these substrates for energy. Exposing the bacterium to sulfur solution would help determine if it is a lithotroph or utilizing inorganic sources, but is less straightforward for determining chemotrophy specifically compared to testing organic substrates.

Other methods mentioned (like exposing it to sunlight) would help identify photosynthetic behaviors, which is not relevant for identifying chemotrophy.