Text 1
Microbiologist Lina Okafor exposed both surface-attached communities and free-floating cultures of the same bacterial strain to bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria. The attached communities persisted, whereas the free-floating cultures largely collapsed. Yet when bacteria from the surviving communities were dispersed in fresh liquid, they were as vulnerable to the phages as untreated bacteria were. Okafor therefore proposed that three-dimensional packing, rather than a change within individual bacteria, may create refuges from infection.
Text 2
Another team tracked fluorescently marked phages entering biofilms containing both matrix-producing bacteria and bacteria unable to produce matrix. Phage movement slowed in outer regions densely populated by matrix producers. Matrix-deficient bacteria located behind those regions frequently survived, whereas matrix-deficient bacteria at exposed edges rarely did.
Which choice best describes how the findings in Text 2 relate to Okafor’s interpretation in Text 1?
For cross-text questions, first state each text’s central claim or implication separately. Then compare their scope carefully: the second text may support the first text’s general idea while qualifying or refining its proposed mechanism. Favor the option that captures both the agreement and the precise new detail without overstating either passage.
Hints
Focus on Text 1’s distinction
Consider why the bacteria’s renewed vulnerability after dispersal matters to Okafor’s interpretation.
Compare similar bacteria
In Text 2, examine what differs between the matrix-deficient bacteria that survive and those that do not.
Determine the relationship
Ask whether Text 2 rejects the role of spatial organization or instead provides more detail about how such organization could offer protection.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify Okafor’s interpretation
In Text 1, bacteria from surviving attached communities become vulnerable again after being dispersed. Okafor therefore attributes their earlier survival to the communities’ physical organization rather than to a lasting change within individual bacteria.
Interpret Text 2’s evidence
Text 2 reports that matrix-deficient bacteria behind producer-dense outer regions frequently survive, whereas matrix-deficient bacteria at exposed edges rarely do. It also reports that phage movement slows in the producer-dense regions.
Relate the findings precisely
The location-dependent survival supports the idea of spatial refuges. Text 2 refines that idea by indicating that matrix producers positioned between other bacteria and incoming phages may create protection for bacteria that do not produce matrix themselves.