Question

An essential nutrient is one that a) bacteria need for proper growth and can make themselves.b) bacteria need for proper growth and cannot make themselves.c) is not needed by the bacteria for proper growth.d) is always plentiful in the environment.

Answer 1

An essential nutrient for bacteria is one they need for proper growth but cannot synthesize themselves. Bacteria, as decomposers, recycle nutrients in ecosystems, and specialized media are often used to culture bacteria with specific nutritional needs, including vitamins for fastidious strains.

Step-by-step explanation:

Essential Nutrients for Bacteria:

An essential nutrient is one that organisms need to obtain from their environment because they are unable to synthesize it themselves. In the context of bacteria, an essential nutrient is one that they need for proper growth and cannot produce on their own. This differs from nutrients that they can produce internally or those that are not necessary for their growth. Bacteria can acquire energy and nutrients through various means, and their nutritional needs can be complex. For some bacteria, especially fastidious ones, vitamins and other growth factors must be added to their culture media, as they cannot synthesize all the compounds they require.

In the environment, bacteria play a critical role as decomposers, recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem. Without bacteria, essential nutrients would be depleted over time, disrupting the balance of natural processes. Some bacteria may have specific requirements for growth, including the need for certain vitamins. This emphasizes the diversity among bacterial species and their various adaptations to different ecological niches.

Plants also require essential nutrients to complete their life cycle and maintain proper nutrition. These include elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, which they obtain from the soil. Unlike bacteria, plants have different mechanisms for acquiring and utilizing these nutrients.

Answer 2

The current answer is b) bacteria need for proper growth and cannot make themselves.

Step-by-step explanation:

An essential nutrient is one which is required to the cell for the proper growth from the environment because it cannot be synthesized by the cell itself.

Some essential nutrients that bacteria require for their growth are carbon, nitrogen, water, iron, inorganic salts, and many other molecules.

These nutrients should be given from an easily available source to the bacteria for their proper growth because these nutrients are required to perform essential metabolic activities and can not be synthesized by bacteria on their own.