Bacterial DNA Features in Prokaryotes

Steps:

• Identify bacterial cells as prokaryotes with circular DNA lacking eukaryotic nuclear structures.
• Check each option against prokaryotic biology: introns and telomeres are eukaryotic, capsid is viral.
• Recognize template strand as a universal DNA component used in transcription.
• Confirm template strand's role in bacterial gene expression.

Why C is correct:

• The template strand is the DNA sequence read by RNA polymerase during transcription, a process essential in all cells with DNA, including bacteria (per central dogma of molecular biology).

Why the others are wrong:

• A: Introns are non-coding sequences spliced out in eukaryotic mRNA; bacterial genes lack introns.
• B: Telomeres are protective caps on linear eukaryotic chromosomes; bacterial DNA is circular without them.
• D: Capsid is a protein shell enclosing viral genomes; bacteria do not produce capsids.

Final answer: C