Which of the following is not the correctly matched pair of organism and its respective cell wall degrading enzyme?

The correct answer/option is Algae– Methylase.

To understand why this is the incorrectly matched pair, let us look at each organism and the enzyme required to degrade its cell wall:
1. Fungi– Chitinase: The cell wall of fungi is primary composed of chitin. Chitinase is the specific enzyme that catalyzes the degradation of chitin, making this pair correctly matched.
2. Plant cells– Cellulase: Plant cell walls are primarily made up of cellulose. Cellulase is the enzyme that breaks down cellulose into beta-glucose, making this pair correctly matched.
3. Bacteria– Lysozyme: Bacterial cell walls contain peptidoglycan. Lysozyme is an enzyme that damages bacterial cell walls by hydrolyzing the beta-1,4-linkages between N-acetylmuramic acid and N-acetylglucosamine in peptidoglycan, making this pair correctly matched.
4. Algae– Methylase: The cell walls of algae are composed of cellulose, glycoproteins, and various polysaccharides (such as agar, carrageenan, or alginic acid). Degrading algal cell walls typically requires enzymes like cellulase, pectinase, or agarase. Methylase, on the other hand, is an enzyme that transfers methyl groups to DNA, RNA, proteins, or other molecules (involved in methylation processes, not cell wall degradation). Therefore, algae and methylase are incorrectly matched.