Prior to the invention of refrigeration, meat was often preserved by soaking it in brine (a solution of water with a high concentration of salt) to kill any microorganisms that might have tried to use the meat as their own food source. which of the following best explains how a brine solution could be lethal to those microorganisms? water would move into the cells of the microorganisms by osmosis causing it to swell and burst. the salt would move into the cells of the microorganisms by facilitated diffusion causing the membrane to become rigid and less permeable. the salt would be pulled from the cells of the microorganisms by active transport removing necessary nutrients and destroying the cells. water would move out of the cells of the microorganisms by osmosis and the cytoplasm would become dehydrated, killing the cells.