44. In an E. coli cell undergoing rapid replication, a newly identified chemical agent completely and specifically inhibits the function of DNA ligase. Assuming all other replication proteins (Helicase, Primase, DNA pol I, and DNA pol III) are fully functional, what structural consequence would be immediately observable following the completion of the first round of DNA synthesis? (A) Both parental DNA strands would remain permanently associated, halting the replication process before the replication fork could open fully. (B) The leading strand would fail to elongate beyond the initial RNA primer because DNA pol III requires DNA ligase to begin continuous synthesis. (C) The lagging strand would consist of multiple Okazaki fragments that are fully synthesized DNA segments but lack covalent bonds between them. NTHU115 (D) The ends of the circular bacterial chromosome would shorten significantly because the replication machinery cannot replace the terminal RNA primers. (E) The concentration of thymine dimers would increase dramatically due to the inability of the DNA replication complex to proofread mismatched bases.