Read the following statements regarding an organism whose cells possess only 70S ribosomes: (A) Its genomic DNA is organized into linear chromosomes. (B) It may contain smaller, extrachromosomal circular DNA molecules. (C) Its genetic material is heavily packaged with histone proteins. (D) It lacks an extensive compartmentalization of cytoplasm. How many of the given statements are correct?

Step-by-step solution

An organism possessing only 70S ribosomes is a prokaryote (e.g., bacteria). Statement (A) is incorrect because prokaryotic genomic DNA is double-stranded and circular, not linear. Statement (B) is correct as many bacteria contain plasmids, which are small, extrachromosomal circular DNA molecules. Statement (C) is incorrect because prokaryotic DNA is "naked" and not associated with histone proteins. Statement (D) is correct because prokaryotic cells lack membrane-bound organelles, meaning there is no extensive compa