Living Environment Regents Practice Test 2025 – The All-in-One Guide to Exam Success!

The correct answer involves understanding the fundamental processes underlying hormone production in bacteria. These processes are crucial because, like all living organisms, bacteria rely on the expression of their genetic information to produce necessary biomolecules, including hormones.

Gene expression refers to the process where specific segments of DNA are transcribed into messenger RNA (mRNA), which then serves as a template for the synthesis of proteins. Protein synthesis occurs through translation, where ribosomes build proteins based on the sequence of mRNA. Hormones produced by bacteria are proteins that can regulate various biological functions and responses.

Having the capacity for gene expression ensures that the bacterial cell can produce the necessary mRNA from its DNA, while protein synthesis translates that mRNA into functional proteins, including hormones. Therefore, both processes are integral to the hormone production pathway.

In contrast, replication of DNA is primarily involved in cell division and is not directly linked to hormone production. Cell specialization and metabolism pertain to more complex organisms rather than bacteria, which do not undergo specialization. Photosynthesis is specific to organisms that have the ability to convert light energy into chemical energy and is not a characteristic of all bacteria, while cellular respiration is a process that can occur alongside metabolism but does not specifically pertain to hormone production in bacteria.