Which of the following characteristics, structures, or processes is common to both bacteria and viruses? A. Metabolism B. Ribosomes C. Genetic material composed of nucleic acid D. Cell division

C. Genetic material composed of nucleic acid

Explanation:

The information needed by every organism to perform life functions like reproduction, growth etc are held in the genetic material that the organism carries in its genome. Every genetic material of organisms is composed of nucleic acids, which are only two in nature i.e. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) and Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). This is a common feature of all organisms including bacteria and viruses that they contain genetic material which must be in form of a nucleic acid.

The viruses do not undergo a cell division, neither do they contain protein synthesis structures called Ribosomes because they do not have the ability to reproduce or perform any living process outside a living host cell. This means that they strictly depend on another organism's transcriptional, translational, replicational ability to survive.

the sugar-phosphate backbone forms the structural framework of nucleic acids, including dna and rna. this backbone is composed of alternating sugar and phosphate groups, and defines directionality of the molecule.