What process can occur in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes?

The correct answer is cellular respiration. This process occurs in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes as it is essential for converting nutrients into energy, which is vital for all life forms.

Eukaryotic organisms, which include animals, plants, and fungi, carry out cellular respiration primarily in their mitochondria, making use of oxygen in aerobic respiration or employing anaerobic processes when oxygen is not available. On the other hand, prokaryotic organisms, such as bacteria, perform cellular respiration in their cytoplasm and across their cell membrane, utilizing similar biochemical pathways without the need for organelles.

While photosynthesis is specific to plants, algae, and some bacteria, and is not found in all eukaryotes or prokaryotes, cellular respiration is a universal process that is critical for survival across a wide range of life forms. Anabolism refers specifically to the synthesis of complex molecules from simpler ones, which doesn't encompass the broader energy conversion focus of cellular respiration. Exothermic reactions, although they can occur in various biochemical processes, are not a biological process in and of themselves like cellular respiration.