VARIETY OF LIVING ORGANISMS

There is an enormous variety of living organisms, about ten million species, alive on Earth today
an dmany more that are now extinct. Biologists classify these organisms, putting them into
groups, each of which reflects similarities of structure and function. The major groups of
organisms are:

1. Plants
2. Animals
3. Fungi
4. Protoctists
5. Bacteria
6. Viruses

PLANTS

All plants are characterised by the following features:

● Are multicellular
● Their cells contain chloroplasts and carry out photosynthesis
● Cells are surrounded by cell walls made of cellulose
● Form carbohydrates as glucose, transport it as sucrose and store them as starch

ANIMALS

Animals can be divided into two large groups

i. Vertebrates
ii. Invertebrates

All animals have the following characteristics in common:

● Also multicellular
● Do not contain chloroplasts
● Gain their nutrition by feeding on other organisms
● Cells lack cell walls which allow them to change shape and help to move from place to
place
● Store carbohydrates as glycogen

FUNGI

Rangjng from unicellular( yeast) to multicellular (mushroom), fungi have cell walls made of chitin.
They do not photosynthesise as chloroplasts are absent. Yeast reproduce by binary fission while
mucor reproduces by spore formation.

Reproduction in mucor/mould
A mould consists of a network of filaments called hyphae. The network called a mycelium. Each
hypha consists of many nuclei. At the tip of each hypha, the nuclei divide repeatedly to form
spores, each surrounded by cytoplasm. Due to the formation of spores the tip swells up and is
known as the sporangium. When the sporangium matures, it ruptures releasing the spores, which
are carried by air. When they land on organic material, they grow to make hyphae and then a
mycelium.

Nutrition in fungi

Fungi feed by saprotrophic nutrition. When an organism feeds on dead organic material and
digestion takes place with the help of extracellular enzymes, it is called saprotrophic nutrition.

Importance of fungi

⮚ Decomposers
⮚ Help in biotechnology
⮚ Food making
⮚ Source of food
 ⮚ Pathogenic

PROTOCTISTS

Protoctists are sometimes called the dustbin kingdom because they are a mixed group of
organisms that do not fit into plants, animals or fungi. Most are microscopic single celled
organisms. Some look like animal cells and are called protozoa e.g. amoeba while others are more
like plant cells and are called algae e.g. chlorella.

BACTERIA

Bacteria are small single celled organisms about 1-5 micro meters in length. There are three basic
shapes of bacteria:

i. Spherical (cocci) e.g. streptococcus

ii. Rod shaped (bacilli) e.g. lactobacillus
iii. Spiral (spirella) e.g. vibrio cholera

Structure of a bacterium

● Surrounded by cell walls made of sugars and proteins (peptidoglycan)

● Some have a capsule or slime layer surrounding the cell wall
● Have cell membrane and cytoplasm like other cells
● Contain no nucleus , instead a single chromosome forming a loop (nucleoid) is floating in
the cytoplasm
● Small rings of DNA called plasmids are present
● Some have flagella that help them to move

Importance of bacteria

⮚ Important decomposers
⮚ Help in making food
⮚ Can be pathogenic
⮚ Help in genetic engineering
⮚ Some are involved in nutrient cycle
 VIRUSES

All viruses are parasites and can only reproduce inside living cells. If taken out of host cells,
they become crystals. A virus particle is very simple:

● Contains no nucleus and cytoplasm

● Has a core of either RNA or DNA
● Genetic material is surrounded by a protein coat
● Sometimes it acquires an envelope from the host cell that surrounds the virus particle
● Do not feed, respire, excrete, move, grow or respond to stimuli
● Can only reproduce parasitically
● Examples: HIV causes AIDS that destroys human immune system
TMV attacks tobacco plants and interferes with their ability to make
chloroplast causing mottled patches to develop on the leaves

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A VIRUS AND A BACTERIUM

VIRUS BACTERIUM

Surrounded by protein coat Cell wall

Cytoplasm no yes

Cell membrane no Yes

 Genetic material single loop of DNA or RNA Circular loop of DNA and
plasmids
Living/non-living Living only inside a host cell living

PATHOGENS

Organisms that cause disease. Some protoctists like plasmodium can cause disease (malaria)
while most are free living. Some fungi can cause diseases too. E.g. athlete’s foot is caused by a
mould.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EUKARYOTES AND PROKARYOTES