What approach would you use to isolate only cells that contain this new structure?,BIOLOGY 101

For each of the SLP assignments, you will be provided with a
hypothetical experimental scenario or data. These assignments are more
opened-ended than the case assignments. You will speculate about
possible explanations and the ways they might be tested, but be sure to
that your hypotheses are grounded in accepted biological science. In
doing this, you will mimic the action of scientists who are continuously
collecting new data, formulating hypotheses, and testing their ideas.

In a newly-explored deep-sea environment, several potentially new
species of apparent bacteria have been discovered. In some of these
single-celled life forms, a novel structure has been observed. The
structure is apparently bound to the interior surface of the cell
membrane and so does not float freely in the cytosol. Preliminary
investigation indicates that this structure typically appears circular
or ovoid in shape. It apparently consists of a long chain of nucleic
acid wrapped around a tube of an unknown protein.

What approach would you use to isolate only cells that contain this
new structure? What techniques could be used to characterize the
structure and composition of the structure? How might you identify the
type of protein and nucleic acid? What would you hypothesize to be the
function of this structure? To what eukaryotic organelle might this
structure be analogous and why?