A nutrition researcher finds that placing young rats on a completely fat-free diet results in abnormal growth, unhealthy skin and fur, and a shortened lifespan. However, if the fat-free diet is supplemented with plant material, then the young rats show none of these symptoms.

Which of the following statements explain why plant material prevents the symptoms?

a. The plant material contains phytoestrogens that stimulate the synthesis of linoleate in the skin
b. Prostaglandin synthesis from linoleate requires inorganic cofactors found only in plant material
c. Ingesting plant material inoculates the rat gut with bacteria that synthesize linoleate
d. Linoleate is an essential fatty acid for animals and is commonly found in plant material
e. Plants express the enzymes required to synthesize linolea.2me