Which of the following is evidence that the Entner-Doudoroff (ED) route might have evolved earlier than the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway (EMP)?

1. Presence of the ED pathway in bacteria that lack the EMP pathway
2. Similarities in the enzymes involved in the ED and EMP pathways
3. Fossil evidence of organisms using the ED pathway before the EMP pathway
4. Genetic analysis showing the ED pathway is more ancient than the EMP pathway

The presence of the ED pathway in bacteria that lack the EMP pathway suggests that the ED route might have evolved earlier than the EMP pathway. The option (1) is correct.

Bacteria that solely rely on the ED pathway for glucose catabolism might represent a more primitive metabolic strategy, suggesting that this pathway could have emerged earlier in evolutionary history.

Such findings align with the concept of evolutionary parsimony, where simpler or more ancient pathways are often retained in organisms. Therefore, the presence of the ED pathway in bacteria lacking the EMP pathway provides evidence supporting the hypothesis that the ED route may have evolved before the EMP pathway.