Q: Obligate anaerobes live and grow in the absence of what?


Read this paragraph and choose the correct option from the provided answers:

Visit this site (http://openstaxcollege. org/l/fermentation2) to see anaerobic cellular respiration in action. Other fermentation methods occur in bacteria. Many prokaryotes are facultatively anaerobic. This means that they can switch between aerobic respiration and fermentation, depending on the availability of oxygen. Certain prokaryotes, like Clostridia bacteria, are obligate anaerobes. Obligate anaerobes live and grow in the absence of molecular oxygen. Oxygen is a poison to these microorganisms and kills them upon exposure. It should be noted that all forms of fermentation, except lactic acid fermentation, produce gas. The production of particular types of gas is used as an indicator of the fermentation of specific carbohydrates, which plays a role in the laboratory identification of the bacteria. The various methods of fermentation are used by different organisms to ensure an adequate supply of NAD+ for the sixth step in glycolysis. Without these pathways, that step would not occur, and no ATP would be harvested from the breakdown of glucose.

 Choices:

- molecular carbon

- molecular nitrogen

- atomic oxygen

- molecular oxygen


A:
molecular oxygen