Bacteria can thrive in many environments including hostile environments like hot springs, polar ice caps and salt flats. this is due to the of bacteria.
a. biochemical diversity
b. small sizes
c. varied shapes
d. methods of movement

The correct answer for the blank is A.biochemical diversity.

Bacteria can thrive in various environmental conditions such as hot springs, salt flat, polar ice caps because of their biochemical diversity.

For instance, the organisms belonging to the domain archaea ( such as methanogens) live in extremely harsh environmental conditions. They have ether linked lipids in their cell membrane ( unlike bacteria, which possess ester linked lipids) and do not have peptidoglycan in their cell membrane. This provides them an advantage to survive under harsh conditions.

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