BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION

Aristotle’s classification
Aristotle was the earliest to attempt a more scientific basis for
classification of organisms. - He classified plants into trees, shrubs & herbs
and animals into 2 groups- those with red blood & without red blood.

Linnaeus’s Two kingdom classification

Linnaeus (1758) classified organisms into Two Kingdoms- Kingdom Plantae &
Kingdom Animalia. Drawbacks of 2-kingdom classification: Prokaryotes (Bacteria,
cyanobacteria) and eukaryotes (fungi, mosses, ferns, gymnosperms & angiosperms)
were included under ‘Plants’ based on the presence of cell wall But they are
widely differed in other characteristics.

3Kingdom Ernst Hankel 4 Kingdom Copeland

It included the unicellular and the multicellular organisms in same group.

E.g. Chlamydomonas and Spirogyra were placed under algae. It did not differentiate
between the heterotrophic fungi and the autotrophic green plants. Fungi have
chitinous cell wall while the green plants have cellulosic cell wall.

Five Kingdom Classification

It is proposed by R.H. Whittaker (1969).

It includes Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae &

Animalia.

This is based on cell structure, thallus organization, mode of

nutrition, reproduction and phylogenetic relationships.

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 Characteristics of the five kingdoms
Characters Monero Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia

Cell type Prokaryotic Eukaryotic Eukaryotic Eukaryotic Eukaryotic

Present
Non-cellular
Present in (Chitin & Present
Cell wall (polysaccharide + Absent
some polysaccharid (Cellulose)
amino acid)
es )

Nuclear
Absent Present Present Present Present
membrane

Body Tissue/organ/
Multicellular, Tissue/organ
organisation Cellular Cellular organ system
loosetissue

Autotrophic (photos Heterotrophic

Autotrophic Heterotrophic
ynthetic & chemos Autotrophic
Mode of (photosynthetic) (saprophytic or (holozoic,
ynthetic) and (photosynthetic)
nutrition heterotrophic and parasitic) saprophytic
(saprophyte/paras heterotrophic etc.)
ite)

Bacteria are the most abundant microorganisms.

Hundreds of bacteria are present in a handful of soil.
They also live in extreme habitats such as hot springs, deserts, snow & deep oceans. Many
are parasites.
Based on shape, bacteria are 4 types: Coccus (Spherical), Bacillus (Rod-shaped),
Vibrium (Comma-shaped) & Spirillum (Spiral).
Some bacteria are autotrophic (synthesize food from inorganic substrates). Majority are
heterotrophs (they do not synthesize food but depend on other organisms or on dead
organic matter for food).

Archaebacteria
They live in harshest habitats such as extreme salty areas (halophiles), hot springs
(thermoacidophiles) and marshy areas (methanogens).
Archaebacteria have a different cell wall structure for their survival in extreme conditions
Methanogens are present in the guts of ruminant animals (cows, buffaloes etc).
They produce methane (biogas) from the dung of these animals

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Eubacteria (‘true bacteria’)
They have a rigid cell wall and a flagellum (if motile).
They include Autotrophs (photosynthetic and chemosynthetic)
and Heterotrophs.

a) Photosynthetic autotrophs (E.g. b) Chemosynthetic autotrophs:

Cyanobacteria): They oxidize inorganic substances
They have chlorophyll a similar to such as nitrates, nitrites & ammonia
green plants. and use the released energy for ATP
Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) are production. - They help in recycling
unicellular, colonial or filamentous, nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorous,
marine or terrestrial algae. iron and sulphur. c. Heterotrophic
The colonies are generally surrounded They are the most abundant in
by gelatinous sheath. nature
They often form blooms in polluted The majority are important
water bodies. - Some of them fix decomposers.
atmospheric nitrogen in specialized
cells (heterocysts). E.g., Nostoc &
Anabaena.

Impacts of Heterotrophic bacteria on human affairs

They are used to make Production of

curd from milk. antibiotics.

Some are pathogens

causing diseases. E.g.
Fixing nitrogen in legume
Cholera, typhoid,
roots etc.
tetanus and citrus
canker.

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Reproduction in Bacteria:

Bacteria reproduce mainly Under unfavourable

by fission. conditions, they produce

spores

They also reproduceby a sort Mycoplasmas are organisms without

of sexualreproduction (DNA a cell wall. They are the smallest
transfer from one bacterium living cells. They can survive without
to other). oxygen. Many are pathogenic in
animals and plants
CONSUGATION

KINGDOM PROTISTA
It includes single cell eukaryotes
The cell contains a well-defined nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles. Some
have flagella or cilia.
Protists are primarily aquatic.
It is a link with plants, animals and fungi.
They reproduce asexually and sexually (cell fusion and zygote formation).
Protista includes Chrysophytes, Dianoflagellates, Euglenoids, Slime
moulds and Protozoans.

Chrysophytes

Microscopic and
Found in fresh It includes diatoms
float passively in Most of them are
water and marine & golden algae
water currents photosynthetic.
environments. (desmids).
(plankton).

Diatoms: They have siliceous cell walls forming two thin overlapping shells, which
fit together as in a soap box. The cell wall deposit of diatoms over billions of
years in their habitat is known as ‘diatomaceous earth’. This is used in polishing,
filtration of oils and syrups. Diatoms are the chief ‘producers’ in the oceans. I

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Dianoflagellates
Mostly marine and photosynthetic.
They appear yellow, green, brown, blue or red based on the main pigments
present in their cells.
The cell wall has stiff cellulose plates on the outer surface.
Most of them have 2 flagella; one lies longitudinally and the other transversely
in a furrow between the wall plates.
Red dianoflagellates (E.g. Gonyaulax) undergo rapid multiplication so that the
sea appears red (red tides). They release toxins that kill marine animals like
fishes. SAXITOXIN
Euglenoids
Mainly fresh water organisms found in stagnant water.
Instead of a cell wall, they have a protein rich layer called
pellicle.
flagella
It makes their body flexible.
They are photosynthetic in the presence of sunlight. In the
absence of sunlight, they behave like heterotrophs by
predating on smaller organisms.
The pigments are identical to those in higher plants.
E.g. Euglena.

Slime Moulds

The body moves along

1 They are saprophytic

protists. 2 decaying twigs and leaves
engulfing organic material.

Under suitable conditions, they

3 form an aggregation called

plasmodium. It may spread over
several feet.

Under unfavourable conditions, plasmodium differentiates and forms fruiting

bodies bearing spores at their tips. Spores have true walls. They are highly resistant and
survive for many years. Spores are dispersed by air.

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Protozoans
They are heterotrophs (predators or parasites).
They are the primitive relatives of animals.
There are 4 major groups of protozoans:

Amoeboid protozoans
They live in fresh water, sea water or moist soil.They
move and capture prey by putting out pseudopodia (false
feet). E.g. Amoeba. Marine forms have silica shells on their
surface. Some of them are parasites. E.g. Entamoeba.

Flagellated protozoans
They are either free-living or parasitic. They have
flagella. The parasitic forms cause diseases such as
sleeping sickness.
Tse Tse
E.g. Trypanosoma. Fly

Ciliated protozoans
They are aquatic, actively Sporozoans
moving organisms using They have an infectious spore-
thousands of cilia. They have a like stage in their life cycle.
cavity (gullet) that opens to E.g. Plasmodium (malarial
outside. By the movement of parasite).
cilia, the water with food
enters gullet.

Paramecium
KINGDOM FUNGI
It is a unique kingdom of heterotrophic organisms.
Fungi are cosmopolitan.
They grow in warm and humid places. E.g. bread mould, orange
rots, mushroom, toadstools etc.

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 White spots on Some unicellular
Some fungi are the
mustard leaves are fungi (e.g. yeast) are
source of antibiotics,
due to a parasitic used to make bread
e.g., Penicillium.
fungus. and beer.

Other fungi cause diseases in plants and animals. E.g. wheat rust-causing Puccinia.
Except yeasts, fungi are filamentous. Their bodies consist of thread-like
structures called hyphae.
The network of hyphae is known as mycelium.

Some hyphae are Fungal cell wall is made

continuous tubes filled of chitin & Some live as
with multinucleated polysaccharides. Most symbionts. E.g. Lichens
cytoplasm. These are fungi are saprophytes (fungi+ algae),
called coenocytic (absorb soluble organic mycorrhiza (fungi+
hyphae. Others have matter from dead roots of higher plants)
septae or cross walls in substrates). Some are
hyphae. parasites.

Reproduction

Vegetative propagation: By fragmentation, fission & budding.

Asexual reproduction: By spores such as conidia, sporangiospores and zoospores.
Sexual reproduction: By oospores, ascospores and basidiospores. They are produced in
distinct structures called fruiting bodies.

The sexual cycle involves 3 steps:

a) Plasmogamy: Fusion
c) Meiosis: in zygote
of protoplasm between b) Karyogamy: Fusion
to give haploid
two motile or non- of two nuclei.
spores.
motile gametes.

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 When a fungus reproduces sexually, two haploid hyphae of compatible mating types
come together and fuse.
In some fungi, the fusion of two haploid cells immediately results in diploid cells (2n).
In ascomycetes and basidiomycetes, a dikaryotic stage or dikaryophase (n + n i.e. two
nuclei per cell) occurs. Such a condition is called a dikaryon. Later, parental nuclei fuse
and the cells become diploid.
The fungi form fruiting bodies in which reduction division occurs, leading to formation of
haploid spores. Based on morphology of mycelium, mode of spore formation & fruiting
bodies,

Fungi are classified into different classes:

1 Phycomycetes 2 Ascomycetes 3 Basidiomycetes 4 Deuteromycetes

Phycomycetes (Lower Fungi)

They occur in aquatic habitats and on decaying wood in moist and damp places
or as obligate parasites on plants.

The mycelium is aseptate Asexual reproduction: By motile zoospores

and coenocytic. or by non- motile aplanospores.

These are produced in Sexual reproduction: Zygospores are

sporangium. formed by fusion of two gametes.

These gametes are isogamous (similar in morphology) or anisogamous or

oogamous (dissimilar). E.g. Mucor, Rhizopus(bread mould) and Albugo (parasitic
fungi on mustard).

Ascomycetes (sac fungi)

• They are unicellular (e.g., yeast, Sacharomyces) or multicellular (e.g., Penicillium).
• Mycelium is branched and septate.
• They are saprophytic, decomposers, parasitic or coprophilous (growing on dung).

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 Asexual reproduction: By conidia produced exogenously on the special
mycelium called conidiophores. Conidia germinate to produce mycelium.

Sexual reproduction: By ascospores produced endogenously in sac like asci

(sing. ascus). The asci are arranged to form fruiting bodies called ascocarps.

E.g. Aspergillus, Claviceps and Neurospora. - Neurospora is used in

biochemical and genetic work. Morels & buffles are edible.

Basidiomycetes
Fey
1 Includes mushrooms, bracket fungi or puffballs.

They grow in soil, on logs and tree stumps and in living plant bodies as
2 parasites (e.g., rusts and smuts).

3 The mycelium is branched and septate.

The asexual spores are generally not found, but vegetative reproduction by
4 fragmentation is common.

The sex organs are absent, but plasmogamy occurs by fusion of two
5 vegetative or somatic cells of different strains or geno types.

6
The resultant structure is dikaryotic which gives
rise to basidium. Karyogamy and meiosis take
place in basidium producing four basidiospores.
Basidiospores are exogenously produced on the
basidium. Basidia are arranged in fruiting bodies
(basidiocarps).E.g. Agaricus (mushroom), Ustilago
(smut) and Puccinia (rust fungus)

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 Deuteromycetes
Commonly known as imperfect fungi because only the asexual or vegetative
phases of these fungi are known.
When the perfect (sexual) stages of these fungi were discovered they were
moved into other classes (often to ascomycetes and basidiomycetes).
It is also possible that asexual and vegetative stage have been given one
name (and placed under deuteromycetes) and the sexual stage another
(and placed under another class). When the linkages were established, the
fungi were correctly identified and moved out of deuteromycetes.
They reproduce only by asexual spores (conidia).
The mycelium is septate and branched.
Some are saprophytes or parasites. Majority are decomposers of litter and help in
mineral cycling. E.g. Alternaria, Colletotrichum and Trichoderma

KINGDOM PLANTAE (PLANT KINGDOM)

• Plants are eukaryotic chlorophyll-containing
organisms with cellulosic cell wall.

• Some are partial heterotrophs (e.g.

insectivorous plants like bladderwort & Venus
flytrap) or parasites (e.g. Cuscuta).

• Plantae includes algae, bryophytes,

pteridophytes, gymnosperms and angiosperms.

• Life cycle of plants has 2 phases: Diploid

sporophytic & haploid gametophytic. These
phases alternate with each other. This is called
alternation of generation.

• Among different plant groups, length of the

haploid & diploid phases is varied. Also,
these phases are free living or dependent on
other.

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KINGDOM ANIMALIA (ANIMAL KINGDOM)
• Animals are multicellular, heterotrophic, eukaryotic organisms without cell wall.

• They directly or indirectly depend on plants for food.

• They digest their food in an internal cavity and store food reserves as
glycogen or fat. Their mode of nutrition is holozoic (by ingestion of food).

• They have a definite growth pattern and grow into adults that
have a definite shape and size.

• Higher forms show sensory and neuromotor mechanism.

• Most of them are capable of locomotion.

• The sexual reproduction is by copulation of male and female followed by

embryological development.

VIRUSES, VIROIDS AND LICHEN

TMV
D.J. Ivanowsky (1892) discovered
In the five-kingdom classification, acellular
virus. He recognized certain
organisms (viruses & viroids) and lichens are not
microbes that cause mosaic disease
mentioned.
of tobacco. They were smaller than
bacteria because they passed
Viruses are not truly ‘living’. So they are not
through bacteria-proof filters.
included in five-kingdom classification.

M.W. Beijerinek (1898) demonstrated

Viruses are non-cellular organisms having an
that the extract of the infected
inert crystalline structure outside the living
tobacco plants cause infection in
cell.
healthy plants and called the fluid
as Contagium vivum fluidum
Viruses are obligate parasites. - When they
(infectious living fluid).
infect a cell, they take over the machinery of
the host cell to replicate themselves, killing the
W.M. Stanley (1935) showed that
host.
viruses could be crystallized and
DJ IVANOWSKI crystals consist largely of proteins.
Louis Pasteur gave the name virus (means
venom or poisonous fluid).

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A virus is a nucleoprotein, i.e., it has a protein coat (capsid) & genetic material (RNA or
DNA).

The genetic material is infectious.

No virus contains both RNA & DNA.

FMV dsDNA
Generally, viruses that infect plants have single stranded RNA. Viruses that infect
animals have either single or double stranded RNA or double stranded DNA.
Bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) usually have double stranded DNA

The capsid made of small subunits (capsomeres) protects nucleic acid. Capsomeres are
arranged in helical or polyhedral geometric form

Viruses cause diseases like mumps, small pox, herpes, influenza & AIDS. In plants, the
symptoms can be mosaic formation, leaf rolling and curling, yellowing and vein clearing,
dwarfing and stunted growth.

Viroid: It is an infectious agent with a free low molecular weight RNA and no protein
coat. These are smaller than viruses. It is discovered by T.O. Diener (1971). He found
that it caused potato spindle tuber disease.

X174 SSDNA dsDNA

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 A virus is a nucleoprotein, i.e., it has a protein coat (capsid) & genetic material (RNA or DNA).

The genetic material is infectious.

No virus contains both RNA & DNA.

Generally, viruses that infect plants have single stranded RNA. Viruses that infect animals
have either single or double stranded RNA or double stranded DNA. Bacteriophages (viruses
that infect bacteria) usually have double stranded DNA

The capsid made of small subunits (capsomeres) protects nucleic acid. Capsomeres are
arranged in helical or polyhedral geometric form

Viruses cause diseases like mumps, small pox, herpes, influenza & AIDS. In plants, the
symptoms can be mosaic formation, leaf rolling and curling, yellowing and vein clearing,
dwarfing and stunted growth.

Viroid: It is an infectious agent with a free low molecular weight RNA and no protein coat.
These are smaller than viruses. It is discovered by T.O. Diener (1971). He found that it caused
potato spindle tuber disease.

Scrapie
Prions living infectious protein
LICHENS BSE
MADCOW DISEASE
KURU

• Lichens are symbiotic associations CJ Jacob

(mutually useful associations) between Disease
algae & fungi.

• The algal component is called phycobiont

(autotrophic) and fungal component is
mycobiont (heterotrophic).

• Algae prepare food for fungi and fungi

provide shelter and absorb mineral nutrients
and water for its partner.

• Lichens are very good pollution indicators.

They do not grow in polluted areas.
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The End

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