Read the statements carefully & choose the correct option: Statement:i Salmonella and E.coli are two different types of bacteria that can infect the digestive system. Statement: ii Bacteria are microscopic, double celled organism.

Q: Read the statements carefully & choose the correct option: Statement:i Salmonella and E.coli are two different types of bacteria that can infect the digestive system. Statement: ii Bacteria are microscopic, double celled organism.

Read the statements carefully & choose the correct option: Statement:i Salmonella and E.coli are two different types of bacteria that can infect the digestive system. Statement: ii Bacteria are microscopic, double celled organism.

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is (2):
Statement i is definitively correct because Salmonella and Escherichia coli (E. coli) are both highly relevant bacteria in the context of the human digestive system. Salmonella is a common cause of salmonellosis, a serious form of food poisoning, and also responsible for typhoid fever, both of which are gastrointestinal infections. Similarly, while many strains of E. coli are harmless commensals in the gut, pathogenic strains—such as E. coli O157:H7—are major culprits behind severe diarrheal disease and foodborne illness. Therefore, both are distinct bacterial types that infect the digestive tract. Statement ii, however, is incorrect. By fundamental definition in biology, bacteria are **unicellular**, meaning they are single-celled organisms, not double-celled. They are also classified as prokaryotes, lacking a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles. Because Statement i is true and Statement ii is false, Option 2 is the only logical choice.

The incorrect option is (1):
This option claims that Statement ii is correct and Statement i is incorrect, which contradicts the established facts. Statement i is factually sound, as Salmonella and E. coli are two separate and significant bacterial pathogens known globally for causing foodborne illness and infections of the digestive tract. Conversely, Statement ii contains a major biological inaccuracy by describing bacteria as "double celled." Bacteria's classification as unicellular organisms is a foundational concept in microbiology, hence this option cannot be correct.

The incorrect option is (3):
This option asserts that both Statement i and Statement ii are correct. This is fundamentally wrong because Statement ii presents a flawed definition of a bacterium. If students recall their basic cell biology, they will know that the defining characteristic of a bacterium is that it is a single-celled entity, lacking the complex structure implied by a multicellular description. Therefore, claiming that bacteria are "double celled" makes the entire Statement ii false, invalidating the composite Option 3.

The incorrect option is (4):
This option claims that both statements are incorrect. We have established that Statement i is correct because Salmonella and E. coli are authentic, well-documented bacterial agents responsible for digestive system infections worldwide. Understanding the infectious agents that cause common illnesses is an important part of health education. As this option incorrectly labels the true statement (Statement i) as false, it must be rejected.