Final answer:
The correct answer is option b. inactivating enzymes that destroy the drug.
Step-by-step explanation:
Among the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance, inactivating enzymes that destroy the drug is incorrect in the context given, as resistance mechanisms usually involve activating or utilizing enzymes that destroy or modify the drug. Bacteria can develop resistance through various other mechanisms, such as altering drug binding sites, which involves making structural changes to the targets of the drug, thereby preventing the drug from binding and rendering it ineffective.
Another resistance method is the development of alternate metabolic pathways, in which bacteria find a new way to achieve a metabolic function that was previously inhibited by an antibiotic. Lastly, bacteria can resist antibiotics by efflux pumps, which pump the antibiotic out of the cell before it can act.
Incorrectly listed was 'developing new cell walls' as a resistance mechanism. While bacteria can alter their cell walls to prevent drug action, resistance is more typically characterized by changes in the existing cell wall structure to decrease drug binding, not by developing entirely new types of cell walls. Examples of resistance include Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) acquiring a new low-affinity penicillin-binding protein (PBP) to resist methicillin, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa decreasing its OprD porin to resist carbapenems.