Biological Classification | Plus 1 Botany | Exam Capsule Notes (Web and PDF)

Biological Classification - Revision Notes
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION:
Chapter at a glance

Aristotle’s classification: Plants to trees, shrubs & herbs. Animals to those with red blood & without red blood.

Linnaeus: 2-Kingdom classification (Plantae & Animalia).

Drawbacks:

Prokaryotes & eukaryotes under Plants.
Unicellular and multicellular organisms in same group.
No differentiation between fungi and plants.

R.H. Whittaker: Five-Kingdom Classification.

Characteristics of the five kingdoms
Characters Monera Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia
Cell type Prokaryotic Eukaryotic Eukaryotic Eukaryotic Eukaryotic
Cell wall Polysaccharide + amino acid Present in some Chitin & polysaccharide Cellulose Absent
Nuclear membrane Absent Present Present Present Present
Body organisation Cellular Cellular Multicellular, loose tissue Tissue/ organ Tissue/organ/ organ system
Mode of nutrition Autotrophic, heterotrophic Autotrophic, heterotrophic Heterotrophic Autotrophic Heterotrophic
1. KINGDOM MONERA (BACTERIA)

Most abundant microorganisms.

4 types: Coccus (Spherical), Bacillus (Rod-shaped), Vibrium (Comma-shaped) & Spirillum (Spiral).

Microscopic View of Bacteria Shapes (Coccus, Bacillus, Vibrio, Spirillum)
I. Archaebacteria:
Halophiles: Live in salty areas.
Thermoacidophiles: In hot springs.
Methanogens: In marshy areas and guts of ruminant animals. Produce methane (biogas).
II. Eubacteria (‘true bacteria’):

Rigid cell wall and a flagellum.

a. Photosynthetic autotrophs (E.g. Cyanobacteria):

Have chlorophyll a.
Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) colonies have gelatinous sheath. Some fix nitrogen in heterocysts. E.g. Nostoc & Anabaena.
Filamentous Blue-Green Algae Nostoc Structure Diagram

b. Chemosynthetic autotrophs: Oxidize inorganic substances and release energy.

c. Heterotrophic bacteria: Most abundant. Decomposers.

Reproduction in Bacteria:

Mainly by fission.
Spore formation: Under unfavourable conditions.
A Dividing Bacterium Fission Diagram

Mycoplasmas are the smallest living cells and have no cell wall.

2. KINGDOM PROTISTA

Single-celled eukaryotes. Some have flagella or cilia.

Reproduction: Asexual & sexual (cell fusion → zygote).

I. Chrysophytes:
Diatoms & golden algae (desmids).
Diatoms have siliceous cell walls. Their cell wall deposit is called diatomaceous earth.
II. Dinoflagellates:
Mostly marine and photosynthetic.
Cell wall: stiff cellulose plates. Most have 2 flagella.
Red dinoflagellates (E.g. Gonyaulax)- sea appears red (red tides).
III. Euglenoids:
Have a protein rich layer (pellicle) & 2 flagella.
Photosynthetic in sunlight. Heterotrophs in darkness.
E.g. Euglena.
IV. Slime Moulds:
Saprophytic protists.
Suitable condition → form an aggregation (plasmodium).
Unfavourable conditions → plasmodium differentiates → fruiting bodies bearing spores.
V. Protozoans:

They are heterotrophs (predators or parasites).

Amoeboid protozoans: Move & capture prey by pseudopodia (false feet). E.g. Amoeba, Entamoeba (parasite).
Flagellated protozoans: Have flagella. Parasites cause diseases like sleeping sickness. E.g. Trypanosoma.
Ciliated protozoans: Move by cilia. E.g. Paramoecium.
Sporozoans: Have infectious spore-like stage. E.g. Plasmodium (malarial parasite).
3. KINGDOM FUNGI

Except yeasts, fungi are filamentous. Saprophytes. Some are parasites.

Cell wall is made of chitin & polysaccharides.

Hyphae: Thread-like structures of the body.

Mycelium: Network of hyphae.

Hyphae are 2 types:

Coenocytic hyphae: Continuous tubes with multinucleated cytoplasm.
Septate hyphae: Have septae or cross walls.

Reproduction:

Vegetative propagation: Fragmentation, fission & budding.
Asexual: Spores (conidia, sporangiospores & zoospores).
Sexual: By oospores, ascospores & basidiospores. They are produced in fruiting bodies.

Sexual cycle has 3 steps:

1
Plasmogamy: Fusion of protoplasm between two motile or non-motile gametes.
2
Karyogamy: Fusion of two nuclei.
3
Meiosis in zygote to give haploid spores.

In sexual reproduction, 2 haploid hyphae fuse. In some fungi, 2 haploid cells fuse → diploid cells (2n).

In ascomycetes & basidiomycetes, a dikaryotic stage or dikaryophase (2 nuclei) occurs. Such condition is called a dikaryon. Later, parental nuclei fuse → diploid.

I. Phycomycetes (Lower Fungi)

Occur in aquatic habitats and on decaying wood or as obligate parasites on plants.
Mycelium is aseptate and coenocytic.
Asexual reproduction: By motile zoospores or by non-motile aplanospores.
Sexual reproduction: 2 gametes fuse → Zygospores. Gametes are isogamous or anisogamous or oogamous.
E.g. Mucor, Rhizopus (bread mould) and Albugo (parasitic fungi on mustard).

II. Ascomycetes (sac-fungi)

Unicellular (e.g. yeast, Saccharomyces) or multicellular (e.g. Penicillium- source of antibiotics).
Mycelium is branched and septate.
Asexual reproduction: By conidia produced on conidiophores.
Sexual reproduction: By ascospores produced in sac like asci. The asci form fruiting bodies (ascocarps).
E.g. Aspergillus, Claviceps & Neurospora (used in biochemical & genetic work).
Morels & truffles are edible.

III. Basidiomycetes

Includes mushrooms, bracket fungi or puffballs.
The mycelium is branched and septate.
Vegetative reproduction by fragmentation is common.
Plasmogamy by fusion of 2 vegetative or somatic cells → dikaryotic structure → basidium → Karyogamy & meiosis → 4 basidiospores.
Basidia are arranged in fruiting bodies (basidiocarps).
E.g. Agaricus (mushroom), Ustilago (smut) and Puccinia (rust fungus).

IV. Deuteromycetes (Imperfect fungi)

Only their asexual or vegetative phases are known.
They reproduce only by asexual spores (conidia).
The mycelium is septate and branched.
Some are saprophytes or parasites. Majority is decomposers.
E.g. Alternaria, Colletotrichum and Trichoderma.
VIRUSES, VIROIDS, PRIONS & LICHENS

Viruses:

Non-cellular obligate parasites. So not included in five-kingdom classification.
Ivanowsky discovered virus. Louis Pasteur gave the name virus.
Beijerinek demonstrated that the extract (Contagium vivum fluidum) of infected tobacco cause infection in healthy plants.
W.M. Stanley showed that viruses could be crystallized.
A virus is a nucleoprotein, i.e. it has a protein coat (capsid) & genetic material (RNA or DNA).
Generally, plant viruses have single stranded RNA. Animal viruses have either single or double stranded RNA or double stranded DNA.
Bacteriophages usually have double stranded DNA.
The capsid is made of small subunits (capsomeres).
Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) and Bacteriophage Structural Diagram

Viroid:

An infectious agent with small RNA and no protein coat. Discovered by T.O. Diener.
It causes potato spindle tuber disease.

Prions:

Abnormally folded protein.
Cause bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease in cattle and Cr-Jacob disease (CJD) in humans.

Lichens:

Symbiotic association between algae & fungi.
Algal component: Phycobiont (autotrophic). Fungal component: Mycobiont (heterotrophic).
Lichens are pollution indicators.
Other Chapters ๐Ÿ‘‡

4 Comments

Post a Comment