Question

Membrane-bound organelles have been an important component in the evolution of complex, multicellular organisms. Which of the following best summarizes an advantage of eukaryotic cells having internal membranes?

(A) Eukaryotic cells are able to reproduce faster
because of the presence of organelles.

(B) Some organelles, such as mitochondria and
chloroplasts, are similar to prokaryotic cells
in structure.

(C) Organelles isolate specific reactions,
increasing metabolic efficiency.

(D) Compartmentalization leads to a higher
mutation rate in DNA, which leads to more
new species.

Answer 1

C

Explanation:

the infolding of the membranes increased the surface area available to complete life-sustaining chemical reactions. the division of labour could be compared to the assembly line in Ford Motors a century ago, increasing efficiency by reducing complexity of large tasks into a series of smaller tasks.

A) can't be correct - binary fission is a much faster means of reproduction, compared to the complexity of cell division of eukarya (ie. mitosis)

B) there's a weak connection here - the inner membrane of the mitochondrion is folded in such a manner as to allow more instances of the electron transport chain to occur concurrently - the reason I wouldn't choose this option is that it doesn't reference the vast majority of infoldings in the cell (ie. Endoplasmic reticulum & Golgi body)

D) I don't see how this can be correct - the compartmentalization of DNA isolates it from the environment and the teratogens that might induce mutation.