Consider the following statements regarding cell wall composition : 1. Bacterial cell wall is made of peptidoglycan. 2. Fungal cell wall is made of cellulose. 3. Animals lack cell wall and have extracellular matrix made up of sugar and proteins. Select the correct answer using the code given below :
- (a)2 only
- (b)1 and 2 only
- (c)1 and 3 only
- (d)1, 2 and 3
Correct — C, 1 and 3 only. Statement 1 is true: the bacterial cell wall is built of peptidoglycan (murein), a mesh of sugars and amino acids. Statement 3 is true: animal cells have no cell wall and instead an extracellular matrix of proteins and sugars. Statement 2 is false, because the fungal cell wall is made mainly of chitin, not cellulose — cellulose is the material of the plant cell wall. So only 1 and 3 are correct.
- (a)2 only — Statement 2 is the wrong one — fungal walls are chitin, not cellulose — so an option that keeps only statement 2 is incorrect.
- (b)1 and 2 only — Statement 1 is true but statement 2 is false (fungi use chitin, not cellulose), so this pairing fails.
- (d)1, 2 and 3 — This wrongly includes statement 2; the fungal wall is chitin, so all three cannot be correct.
Different kingdoms build their cell walls from different polymers: bacteria use peptidoglycan, plants use cellulose, and fungi use chitin (the same tough polymer found in insect exoskeletons). Animal cells have no wall at all — they are bounded only by the plasma membrane and supported by an extracellular matrix of proteins such as collagen and attached sugars.
The single planted error is 'fungal wall = cellulose.' Swap that for chitin and the statement becomes true. Keep the four-way map clear: bacteria - peptidoglycan, plants - cellulose, fungi - chitin, animals - no wall.
- Bacterial cell wall = peptidoglycan (murein).
- Fungal cell wall = chitin (NOT cellulose).
- Plant cell wall = cellulose.
- Animal cells lack a cell wall; they have an extracellular matrix of proteins and sugars.
Only the fungal statement is wrong, so the answer is 1 and 3 only — option (c).
- Swapping fungal chitin for plant cellulose.
- Forgetting that animal cells have no cell wall at all.
Asked as a multi-statement 'select the correct code' item that plants one wrong wall-composition claim.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The main structural material of the fungal cell wall is
- (a)cellulose
- (b)peptidoglycan
- (c)chitin
- (d)lignin
Answer(c) chitin — the same polymer found in insect exoskeletons.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Peptidoglycan is the characteristic cell-wall material of
- (a)plants
- (b)bacteria
- (c)fungi
- (d)animals
Answer(b) bacteria — animal cells have no wall at all.