As we know, Biology is the science of life which studies the structure, function, growth, origin,

evolution and distribution of living organisms. The word Biology is derived from the Greek
words "bios" (life) and "logos" (study). Biological entities are classified on the basis of presence
and absence of cell which is the structural and functional unit of living organisms.  In 1665,
Robert Hooke, an English physicist, discovered cell.
Organisms can be primary classified into 2 types-

1. Cellular organism: Organisms containing one or multiple cells are called cellular
organisms. For example- human, plants, bacteria etc. The cellular organisms can further
be grouped into five groups or kingdoms, such as- Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae &
Animal.
2. Acellular organisms: Acellular organisms are devoid of any kind of cell or cell
structure. The primary candidates for non-cellular life are viruses. Viruses are ultra-
microscopic, infectious particles of protein and nucleic acid that are completely inactive
outside host organism. Other acellular organisms include- pirions, viroids etc.

Biological
Entities

Acellular Cellular
Organisms organism
(Virus) s

Prokaryotes Eukaryotes

Monera Protista Fungi Plants Animals

Now we discuss in detail about the organisms.

1. Virus (Acellular Organism): Viruses are ultramicroscopic entities who have no
cellular organization but shows characteristics of both living and non-living. According
to the types of hosts they infect, virus maybe be classified as plant virus (Tobacco Mosaic
Virus), animal virus (HIV), Bacterial virus (T2 bacteriophage).
Living characters of virus include-
 Virus can multiply within specific living hosts.
 Genetic recombination takes place.
 They are obligatory parasite.
 Chemically virus is made of nucleic acid (DNA & RNA) & protein.

Again, non-living characteristics include-

 Virus doesn’t have cytoplasm, cell wall,
cell membrance, ribosome &
mitochondria. They do not have
metabolic enzyme and do not intake
food.
 Virus particles can be filtered,
crystallized, diffused and made
suspension by mixing with water.
Because of the above reasons, Nobel
laureate A. Lwoff (1953) made a
comment ‘A virus is a virus’ and
defined them neither a living substance
nor a non-living substance but in between them as an individual existence.

2. Prokaryotes (Kingdom Monera):

Characteristics of prokaryotic organisms are-
they are single-celled organisms that don’t
have any membrane bound organelle, like
nucleus, chloroplast etc. They only consist of
ribosome and DNA molecule (chromosome).
For example- Bacteria (first life form on
earth). Their primary characters are-
i. Bacteria are very small (0.25-5.0 micrometer) ii. They have a rigid cell wall made of
peptidoglycan. iii. Generally reproduce very quickly by binary fission. iv. They are
solitary or colonial, free living or parasitic. v. No mitosis or meiosis.
The importance of bacteria is manifold. At present, Escherichia coli (E. coli bacteria),
Agrobacterium tumefacians are being bioengineered for the production of vaccine, interferon,
insulin etc. However, 90% of human and 10% of animal diseases are caused by bacteria.

3. Eukaryotes: The cells which have well organized nucleus with membrane bound
organelles are called eukaryotes. There are 4 kingdom under Eukaryotes-
i. Kingdom Protista: Their characteristics include-

 They can be
unicellular or
multicellular. They
may be autotrophic
or heterotrophic in
nature. For
example- algae,
amoeba etc.
 Protists exhibit locomotion through cilia and flagella. Some protists
reproduce sexually using gametes, while others
reproduce asexually by binary fission.
ii. Kingdom Fungi: Fungi are the most widely distributed organisms. For example-
Agaricus, lichen etc. Their characteristics are- i. Photoneutral & cosmopolitan. Ii.
Vegetative body is thalloid. Iii.
Generally reproduce by vegetative,
asexual & sexual method iv. They
are mainly saprophytic or parasitic.
vi. Cell wall is composed of chitin
& glucan. Vii. Mycelium is
colorless and coenocytic.

iii. Kingdom Plantae: Plants are

multicellular, autotrophic and
photosynthetic. They contain chlorophyll and large vacuole. Cellulose is present
in cell wall. They portray both sexual & asexual reproduction. Example- fern,
mango tree etc.
iv. Animalia: There are different phylum under the Animalia Kingdom, such as-
Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Mollusca, Chordata etc. Their general
characteristics include-
 They are multicellular and heterotrophic.
 Animal cells do not have cell wall but have many vacuoles.
 They can move from one place to another.
 Animals typical reproduce sexually.