In Their Work with Soil Bacteria, McInerney and Colleagues Have $\Delta$

In their work with soil bacteria, McInerney and colleagues have found microorganisms that display metabolic pathways with $\Delta$ G values as small as -20 kJ/mol. This is an example of:

A) the capacity of microorganisms to conquer a wide variety of environments
B) microorganisms contradicting the laws of thermodynamics
C) growth near thermodynamic equilibrium
D) all of the above
E) none of the above