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Which of the following statements about inclusion bodies is incorrect?
Inclusion bodies in prokaryotes store reserve nutrients non-membranously (phosphate granules, cyanophycean granules, glycogen granules) floating freely in the cytoplasm. Bacteria lack endocytosis; inclusion bodies NEVER ingest food! Statement (2) is false. Select Option (2).
Prokaryotic cells (bacteria and cyanobacteria) lack membrane-delimited organelles. Metabolic reserves are stockpiled in specialized dense aggregations known as inclusion bodies: - Reserve Storage: They represent non-living deposits of reserve materials accumulated during nutrient excess to support the cell during starvation. - *Phosphate granules (volutin):* Store inorganic polyphosphate. - *Cyanophycean granules:* Store protein reserves (arginine-aspartate polymers). - *Glycogen granules:* Store carbohydrates. - Membrane-less Structure: They are not surrounded by any unit lipid bilayer membrane; they lie free in the cytoplasmic cytosol.
Prokaryotes are enveloped by a rigid peptidoglycan cell wall and absorb nutrients strictly via transmembrane transport systems (permeases, active transport, group translocation). Phagocytosis or particulate food ingestion does not occur in prokaryotes; food vacuoles are eukaryotic adaptations (e.g. *Amoeba*).
Diagnose every choice: Know exactly why the right option works and why distractors fail.
This is a true statement. Inclusion bodies lack any surrounding membrane.
Correct as the false statement. Inclusion bodies store reserves, playing zero role in ingestion.
This is a true statement. Inclusion bodies float freely in the cytosol.
This is a true statement. Storing reserve polymers is their defining biological function.
Candidates confuse eukaryotic food vacuoles (in *Amoeba*, which ingest food particles via phagocytosis) with prokaryotic inclusion bodies (which are inert non-membranous chemical reserve deposits).
"Inclusion bodies store reserve materials in prokaryotes without membranes; they do not ingest food particles."
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