PLANT AND ANIMAL ORGAN

SYSTEMS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

(IMMUNE SYSTEMS)
for General Biology 2 Grade 11
Quarter 4 / Week 4

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 FOREWORD

This self-learning kit will serve as a guide in comparing

and contrasting immune systems of plants and animals. It
will be your aid as you learn new ideas and enrich your
existing knowledge about scientific concepts.

In this learning kit, the learners will be able to gain

knowledge in identifying the similarities and differences in
the immune systems of plants and animals.

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 OBJECTIVES:

At the end of the lesson, the learners shall be able to:

K: identify the organs and functions of the immune system
S: compare and contrast plant and animal immune systems
using a Venn diagram
A: share the importance of taking care of the body to ensure
well-functioning and healthy immune system

LEARNING COMPETENCY:

Compare and contrast the following processes in plants and

animals: reproduction, development, nutrition, gas
exchange, transport/circulation, regulation of body fluids,
chemical and nervous control, immune systems, and sensory
and motor mechanisms (STEM_BIO11/12-IVa-h-1)

I. WHAT HAPPENED

Source: https://medicine.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/MediCine_Issue34.pdf

It’s important to know that a strong immune system will not prevent you
from contracting COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is a
novel pathogen, meaning those who contract it have no existing antibodies
to mount a defense. For that reason, it remains imperative to continue
practicing social distancing, good hand hygiene, and cough etiquette.

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PRE-ACTIVITY
Direction: Complete the puzzle using the given clues below. Write your
answers in your notebook.

1 2

3 4

7 8

9 10

11

12

13

14

15

Across
1. any agent that causes a disease
3. Injections that can help prevent viral
infections
5. Protection from getting a disease
8. Proteins in our bodies that recognize
pathogens and protect us from them
9. Diseases that can't be caught (passed
from person to person)
11. Poisonous substances created by
plants (poison ivy), animals
(rattlesnakes), or improperly prepared
or stored food
12. Viruses inject their _____ for cells to
reproduce and infect others
13. _________________ disorders are
passed down from our parent's genes
14. Illnesses cause by many factors
15. Medicines that can be used as
treatment for bacterial diseases
Down
2. Diseases that can be passed
(caught) from person to person
4. Soaps and cleaners that prevent
the spread of germs
6. Nonliving things that attack cells
and make them reproduce their
illness
7. Diseases that are easily passed from
person to person
10. Prokaryotic organisms that cause
infections

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II. WHAT I NEED TO KNOW
DISCUSSION

Plants and animals must avoid becoming a free meal to microbes,

which vastly outnumber eukaryotic life in both quantity and diversity.
Adaptive immunity in the strict sense, whereby the host creates an
immunological memory after exposure to a pathogen, is limited to
vertebrates. Both plants and animals (including insects and mammals) have
an innate immune system, which helps protect hosts from the majority of
microbes they encounter during their lifetime.

WHAT IS AN IMMUNE SYSTEM?

An immune system is a complex network of different cellular actions
and signals, allowing an organism to defend itself against a pathogen. The
immune system is based on an exchange of input and output. Immunity, as
a system, operates at a much lower speed. It transmits information by
chemical signals, or through the migration of cells. The immune system, in
general, recognizes and protects the organism against pathogens, whereby
foreign structures and molecules get recognized and an appropriate
immune response is produced.
Dysfunction of the immune system can cause autoimmune diseases
(condition arising from an abnormal immune response to a functioning body
part), inflammatory diseases, allergies, and cancer. Immunodeficiency
occurs when the immune system is less active than normal, resulting in
recurring and life-threatening infections.
Immunology is a branch of biology that covers the study of immune
systems in all organisms.

TYPES OF IMMUNITY

Important to mention is that in

some cases the immune system can be
divided into two categories, which are
not mutually exclusive: The innate and
the adaptive immune system. These two
differ mainly in that, on the one hand, the
innate immune system is inherited, while
the adaptive one is acquired. Moreover,
the innate immune system refers to
nonspecific defense mechanisms that
come into play immediately after a
pathogen is recognized. The adaptive
immune system refers to antigen-specific http://www.biozoomer.com/2011/02/immunity-
immune responses and is considered to basics.html
be more complex than the innate one. Once an antigen of a pathogen is
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 recognized, an army of cells is created, which will then recognize the specific
antigen and attack it. Furthermore, the adaptive immune response includes
a “memory process”, by which the immune system is trained to handle future
infections with the same antigen faster and better.

Remember: All animals exhibit nonspecific immune response but specific

ones evolved in vertebrates.

OVERVIEW OF PLANT IMMUNE SYSTEM

Plants are protected from infection by a “skin,” a waxy cuticular layer
atop the cell wall. Would-be pathogens breaching this barrier encounter an
active plant immune system that specifically recognizes pathogen and
altered-self molecules generated during infection. Consequent regulation of
a network of inducible defenses can halt pathogen proliferation and signal
distal plant organs to become nonspecifically primed against further
infection.
PLANT – PATHOGEN INTERACTION
Proteins and Factors Involved
Protein in Plant Cell Protein in Pathogen Type Of Plant
Immunity
PRR (Pattern PAMPs / MAMPs Trigger the ETI
Recognition Receptor) recognizes (Pathogen Associated (Effector
Molecular Pattern / Triggered
Microbe Associated Immunity)
Molecular Pattern)
R – Gene (R – Protein Trigger the PTI
/ Resistance Protein) Pathogen Effectors (Pattern / PAMP
Triggered
Immunity)

Different proteins & factors

are involved in the plant-pathogen
interaction pathway. Plant cell
possess PRR (Pattern Recognition
Receptor) on its surface which
recognizes PAMP/MAMP (Pathogen
Associated Molecular Pattern or
Microbe Associated Molecular
Pattern) found on the surface of a
pathogen which invade the cell. This
interaction triggers the PTI
(Pattern/PAMP Triggered Immunity)
reaction which signals expression of
defense genes in plant cell. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3869199/figure/F1/?r
eport=objectonly

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 On the other hand, R – Gene (Resistance protein) is activated when
pathogen effector molecules secreted by pathogens get inside the cell
which signals the ETI (Effector Triggered Immunity) reaction. In this process,
effector molecules are detected by a sensing protein called Nucleotide
Binding Leucine-Rich Repeat (NB-LRR) that activates the resistance protein (R
– Gene). This reaction causes ion influx; efflux of hydroxide and potassium
ions and influx of calcium and hydrogen ions. This result to a hypersensitive
response in plant cell wherein an oxidative burst produces Reactive Oxygen
Species or ROS (toxic by-product of aerobic metabolism) thereby destructing
the cell (cell death/apoptosis). The reaction also triggers deposition of lignin
forming callous to the walls of other cell thereby containing the infection.

PREPARING FOR FUTURE ATTACKS

In addition to the HR or other local responses, plants are capable of a

systemic response to a pathogen or pest attack. This is called a systemic
acquired response (SAR). Several pathways lead to broad-ranging resistance
that lasts for a period of days. The signals that induce SAR include salicylic
acid and jasmonic acid. Salicylic acid is the active ingredient in aspirin too!
SAR allows the plant to respond more quickly if it is attacked again. However,
this is not the same as the human immune response where antibodies
(proteins) that recognize specific antigens (foreign proteins) persist in the
body. SAR is neither as specific nor long lasting.

Raven, Peter H. et. al. Biology: 12th Edition. 2020

Plant defense responses. In the gene-for-gene response, a cascade of
events is triggered leading to local cell death (HR response) and longer-term
resistance in the rest of the plant (SAR).

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OVERVIEW OF ANIMAL IMMUNITY

The immune system can be divided

into three basic lines of defense against
pathogenic infection:
▪ The first line of defense against
infection are the surface barriers
that prevent the entry of
pathogens into the body
▪ The second line of defense are
the non-specific phagocytes
and other internal mechanisms
that comprise innate immunity
▪ The third line of defense are
the specific lymphocytes that
produce antibodies as part of
the adaptive immune response
https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/stem-in-
context/immune-response

https://ib.bioninja.com.au/standard-level/topic-6-human-physiology/63-defence-against-infection/lines-of-defense.html

HOW IT WORKS

The immune system recognizes invaders

by their antigens, which are proteins on the
surface of the invading bacteria or on virus-
infected cells.
Every cell or substance has its own
specific antigens, and a person’s cells carry
“self-antigens” that are unique to that
individual. Cells with self-antigens are typically
not a threat. Invading germs, however, do not
originate in the body and so do not carry self- https://www.sitcancer.org/clinician/resources
antigens; instead, they carry what are called /melanoma/immune-system
“nonself-antigens.”

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 The immune system is designed to identify cells with nonself-antigens
as harmful and respond appropriately. Most immune cells release cytokines
(messengers) to help them communicate with other immune cells and
control the response to any threats.

FACING A NORMAL INVADER

When you skin your knee, for example, the immune system’s first barrier,
the skin, is broken, harmful substances can easily enter the body.

https://www.sitcancer.org/clinician/resources/melanoma/immune-system

As soon as the injury occurs, immune cells in the injured tissue begin to
respond and also call other immune cells that have been circulating in your
body to gather at the site and release cytokines to call other immune cells to
help defend the body against invasion. The immune cells can recognize any
bacteria or foreign substances as invaders. Immune cells, known as natural
killer cells, begin to destroy the invaders with a general attack. Although this
attack can kill some of the invaders, it may not be able to destroy all of them
or prevent them from multiplying.

At the same time, other immune cells called dendritic cells start to
engulf or “eat” the invaders and their nonself-antigens. This process causes
the dendritic cells to mature into antigen-presenting cells (APCs). These APCs
expose the invading cells to the primary immune cells of the immune
system—the B and T cells—so that these cells can recognize the invading
cells. B cells work rapidly to produce antibodies which help identify and stop
the invading bacteria. Viruses, unlike bacteria, like to hide inside normal cells
and may be more difficult for the immune system to recognize. T cells,
however, are designed to find abnormal fragments of viruses inside normal
cells. Before these T cells have been activated to fight viruses and other
invaders, they’re known as “naïve” T cells.

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 APCs communicate with and
activate the naïve T cells by connecting
to them through protein molecules on
their surfaces. A specific set of proteins
on the APC, called the major
histocompatibility complex (MHC), must
connect to the receptor on each T cell.
This first important connection is
sometimes referred to as Signal 1. This
connection allows the T cell to
recognize antigens on invading cells as
a threat (see Figure 3).
Before a T cell can be fully
activated, however, additional
molecules on the surfaces of both cells
must also be connected to confirm that
an attack against the invader is
necessary. This second signal is known
as the co-stimulatory signal, or Signal 2.
If a T cell receives Signal 1 but not Signal
2, the T cell will die, and the attack is shut
down before it even started.
When a T cell receives both Signal
1 and Signal 2, it is able to recognize the
invading cells and destroy them. This
fully activated, or effector T cell, then
multiplies to expand the number of T
cells that are equipped to defeat the
threat (see Figure 3). Multiple
generations of immune cells are
created by the same immune response,
and then some T cells transform into
regulatory T cells, which work to slow
and shut down the immune response
once the threat is gone.
Other T cells may become memory T cells. They can stay alive for
months or years, continuing to fight off the same invading cells again.
Memory is the basis of immune protection against disease in general and
explains why we don’t become infected with some diseases, such as measles
or chicken pox, more than once.

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ACTIVITIES

Task 1: COMPARE AND CONTRAST

Direction: Compare and contrast the immune system/immune response

between plants and animals using a Venn diagram. You may use books,
internet, or journal articles for more information. Write your answers in your
notebook.

Task 2:

Share at least two ways of taking care of our body to ensure well-functioning
and healthy immune system. Write your answers in your notebook.
1.___________________________________________________________
2.___________________________________________________________

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III. WHAT I HAVE LEARNED
EVALUATION/POST TEST
MULTIPLE CHOICE: Write the letter of the correct answer in your
notebook.

1. Which of the following statements about the innate immune

system is NOT true?
a. Innate immunity is present in all multicellular organisms, including
plants and insects.
b. Deficiencies in innate immunity markedly increase host susceptibility
to infection, even in the settling of an intact adaptive immune
response.
c. Innate immunity is better suited for eliminating virulent, resistant
microbes than is adaptive immunity.
d. The innate immune response against microbes influences the type
of adaptive immune response that develops
2. Which statement best describes what will most likely happen when an
individual receives a vaccination containing a weakened pathogen?
a. The ability to fight disease will increase due to the antibodies
received from the pathogen.
b. The ability to fight disease caused by the pathogen will increase due
to antibody production.
c. The ability to produce antibodies will decrease after the
vaccination.
d. The ability to resist most types of diseases will increase.

IDENTIFICATION: Identify what is asked in each item. Write your answers in your
notebook.

AIDS is an infectious disease that has reached epidemic proportions.

Describe the nature of this disease and identify two ways to prevent or control
the spread of infectious diseases, such as AIDS. In your response be sure to
include:

___________ 3. The type of pathogen that causes AIDS

___________ 4. The system of the body attacked by the pathogen
___________ 5. The effect on the body when this system is weakened by AIDS
___________ 6. Two ways to prevent or control the spread of infectious
diseases, such as AIDS.

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 REFERENCES

Choudary, Anuj et. al. “ROS & oxidative burst: Roots in plant development.”
Plant Diversity, vol. 42, no.1, Feb 2020, 33-43,
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7046507. Accessed Jan 2021.

Haney, Cara H. and Urbach, Jonathan M. “Differences & Similarities: Innate

immunity in plants & animals.” Biochemical Society, Oct 014, 40-44,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287028110. Accessed Jan
2021.

“Plant immunity & PRRs: A guide & introduction to plant immunity & PRRs.”
iGEMUZurich, 2020. Accessed Jan 2021.

Raven, Peter H. et. al. Biology: 12th Edition. 2020

Solomon, Eldra P. et. al. Biology: 8th Edition. Thomson Learning Academic
Resource Center. Belmont, California. 2008

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=k9QAyP3bYmc
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=compare+and+contrast+
palnt+and+animal+immune+system
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immunology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immune_system
https://www.aber.ac.uk/~dcswww/ISYS/immune_system.html
https://www.sitcancer.org/clinician/resources/melanoma/immune-system
https://ib.bioninja.com.au/standard-level/topic-6-human-physiology/63-
defence-against-infectio/lines-of-defense.html

IMAGE REFERENCES

Raven, Peter H. et. al. Biology: 12th Edition. 2020

http://www.biozoomer.com/2011/02/immunity-basics.html
https://medicine.nus.edu.sg/wpcontent/uploads/2020/04/MediCine_Issue3
4.pdf
https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/stem-in-context/immune-
response
https://www.sitcancer.org/clinician/resources/melanoma/immune-system
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3869199/figure/F1/?report=
objectonly

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 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF NEGROS ORIENTAL

SENEN PRISCILLO P. PAULIN, CESO V

Schools Division Superintendent

FAY C. LUAREZ, TM, Ed.D., Ph.D.

OIC - Assistant Schools Division Superintendent
Acting CID Chief

NILITA L. RAGAY, Ed.D.

OIC - Assistant Schools Division Superintendent

ROSELA R. ABIERA
Education Program Supervisor – (LRMS)

ARNOLD R. JUNGCO
PSDS-Division Science Coordinator

MARICEL S. RASID
Librarian II (LRMDS)

ELMAR L. CABRERA
PDO II (LRMDS)

PABLO ACIERTO RAGAY JR.

WRITER

IVANNE RAY A. GIDOR

LAYOUT ARTIST
_________________________________
ALPHA QA TEAM
LIEZEL A. AGOR
MA. OFELIA I. BUSCATO
ANDRE ARIEL B. CADIVIDA
THOMAS JOGIE U. TOLEDO

BETA QA TEAM
LIEZEL A. AGOR
JOAN Y. BUBULI
LIELIN A. DE LA ZERNA
PETER PAUL A. PATRON
THOMAS JOGIE U. TOLEDO

DISCLAIMER

The information, activities and assessments used in this material are designed to provide
accessible learning modality to the teachers and learners of the Division of Negros Oriental. The
contents of this module are carefully researched, chosen, and evaluated to comply with the set
learning competencies. The writers and evaluator were clearly instructed to give credits to
information and illustrations used to substantiate this material. All content is subject to copyright and
may not be reproduced in any form without expressed written consent from the division.

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SYNOPSIS needles, etc.
6. Abstinence, condom use, no shared
This self-learning kit is designed to help infections.

learners understand the concept of

5. The body will be more prone to

immunity among plants and animals in an

4. Immune system
3. Virus
engaging and concise manner possible, 2. B
contextualized to meet the standards of the 1. C
K to 12 curriculum thereby facilitating What I Have Learned

optimum learning.
fatigue.
• Get enough sleep to avoid
immune system.
Learners are then expected to • Eat a healthy diet to boost the
accomplish the objectives set at the start of Sample answers:

the lesson on immune systems. Moreover,

Task 2: Answers may vary
Task 1: Answers may vary
the author hopes that this module will Activities
increase learners’ engagement, help them
retain and remember information easily, 15. Antibodies
and deepen their understanding on the 14. Disease

concepts through hands-on and

13. Genetic
12, DNA
application-based learning opportunities 11. Toxins 10. Bacteria
provided in this module. 9. Noncommunicable
8. Antigens 7. Contagious
As learners proceed with being 5. Immunity 6. Virus

engaged in this simple module, may they

3. Vaccination 4. Disinfectants
1. Pathogen 2. Communicable
remember to internalize these concepts Across: Down:
and be prepared to apply these things in Sci-Quiz 1
the future. ANSWER KEY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PABLO ACIERTO RAGAY JR. finished his course at Negros
Oriental State University with a degree in Bachelor of
Secondary Education major in Biological Science last
2015. He is a Grade 12 teacher/adviser at Caticugan High
School in the Senior High School (SHS) Department, a SHS
focal person and, at the same time, the acting SHS
registrar. He is currently taking Master of Arts in Science
Teaching at Negros Oriental State University.

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