Which statement describes features shared by both chloroplasts and mitochondria?

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When evaluating features shared by chloroplasts and mitochondria, it's helpful to compare their core bioenergetic roles and structural traits across options.
Option 1: 'They are both part of the endomembrane system.' This is inaccurate because chloroplasts and mitochondria are not part of the endomembrane system (which includes the ER, Golgi, vesicles, and plasma membrane). They are semiautonomous organelles with their own membranes and DNA, and they originated from endosymbiotic events rather than being components of the endomembrane network.
Option 2: 'They have a membrane that allows free diffusion of glucose.' Both organelles have membranes, but neither membrane permits free diffusion of glucose. Glucose transport is mediated by specific carrier proteins in the plasma membrane or chloroplast envelope, not by undirected diffusion across mitochondrial or chloroplast membranes. This statement oversimplifies and misstates membrane permeability.
Option 3: 'They perform cellular respiration which releases CO2 and consumes O2.' This describes mitochondrial metabolism (cellular respiration) but not chloroplast function. Chloroplasts carry out photosynthesis, not respiration that releases CO2; in photosynthesis CO2 is fixed into carbohydrates and O2 is released as a byproduct. Therefore this option fails to capture a shared feature and also misattributes chloroplast activity.
Option 4: 'They generate and use electrochemical gradients to generate ATP.' This captures a foundational similarity: both organelles establish proton (electrochemical) gradients across their membranes to drive ATP synthesis—mitochondria via the proton-momenta across the inner mitochondrial membrane and chloroplasts across the thylakoid membrane during photophosphorylation. The resulting proton-motive force powers ATP synthase in both cases, making this statement a correct shared feature.

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Which statement describes features shared by both chloroplasts and mitochondria?

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