Question

The long fibers of a skeletal muscle are:

A. many cells organized end-to-end.
B. one large cell with a single nucleus.
C. one large cell with many nuclei.

Answer 1

The long fibers of a skeletal muscle are single cells that contain many nuclei, resulting from the fusion of multiple myoblasts during muscle development.

Step-by-step explanation:

The long fibers of a skeletal muscle are multinucleated; they are classified as a single cell that contains many nuclei. During the development of skeletal muscles, embryonic cells called myoblasts, each with its own nucleus, merge to form these multinucleated fibers. This adaptation enables the production of large amounts of proteins necessary for muscle contraction as more genes are available for protein synthesis. Muscle fibers are not a collection of cells organized end-to-end, nor are they large cells with a single nucleus.