In prokaryotes, formylmethionione is the first amino acid incorporated into the growing polypeptide chain. A scientist attempted to follow the signal after translation but was only able to find it in 5 of 100 polypeptides produced by an E. coli ribosome. What best explains this observation?
A. The ER cuts the signal off newly produced polypeptides often right after translation.
B. Cotranslational errors often occur in prokaryotes due to less proofreading ability than in eukaryotes
C. In the reactive environment of the cytoplasm, electrophiles can attack formylmethionine and make the signal disappear
D. Signal peptidase cleaves the formylmethionine-containing sequence from the molecule in the bacterial cytoplasm