The growth of bacteria is determined not only by the composition of their surroundings but also by sudden changes in the living environment. For rapid growth in different environments, bacteria need to adjust their enzyme levels in order to rapidly benefit from the nutrients currently available in their surroundings. If the living environment undergoes rapid changes, the bacterium’s own production of proteins has to conform to these changes in an effective way. How are bacteria able to adapt to a rapidly changing environment? A) During transcription, RNA polymerase is unable to bind and commence transcription. B) Bacterial genes, in a rapidly changing environment, mutate rapidly in response to these changes. C) Bacterial genes are organized into operons, clusters of coregulated genes, that are regulated such that they are all turned on or off together. D) Bacterial cells are prokaryotic and genes have ready access to the ribosomes within the cell's cytoplasm. Transcription, then, take place at a very rapid rate.
