BENGUET STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF NATURAL SCIENCES

Department of Biology

BIO 12 GENERAL BIOLOGY: LECTURE MANUAL 4 PREPARED BY:

CHAPTER IV: DIVERSITY OF LIFE
LEARNING Taxonomy JESSA A. BALANGGOY-
MATERIAL Kingdoms of Life PAGULAYAN
Kingdom Archaebacteria Faculty-in-Charge
4
Email: [email protected]
Kingdom Eubacteria
Kingdom Protista
Kingdom Fungia
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
• classify organisms according to the kingdoms of life; and
• write scientific names following the rules in the Binomial System of Nomenclature.

INTRODUCTION
I. TAXONOMY
Taxonomy – science that deals with classification, nomenclature and identification of organisms.
E Classification – grouping of organisms according to structural and embryological differences and
X according to distribution. This arrangement results/ gives rise to taxonomic categories/ units.
P Example:
L Man Rose
O Domain Eukarya Eukarya
R
Kingdom Animalia Plantae
E
Phylum Chordata Antophyta
Class Mammalia Dicotyledonae
Order Primates Rosales
Family Hominidae Rosaceae
Genus Homo Rosa
Species sapiens setigera

The above examples show a hierarchical system of classification, i.e., the taxonomic units
encompass groups of a much lower unit, hence an indented presentation.

Species – the basic/smallest taxonomic unit in classification; group of extremely similar

organisms which are reproductively isolated, i.e., only members of a given species can
reproduce (with exemptions)
Genus – 2 or more species with certain common characteristics
Family – 2 or more genera with certain common characteristics
Order – 2 or more families with certain common characteristics
Class – 2 or more orders with certain common characteristics
Phylum/ Division – 2 or more classes with certain common characteristics
Kingdom – 2 or more phyla with certain common characteristics
Domain – proposed taxon higher to Kingdom

Nomenclature – system or procedure of assigning names to the different kinds of organisms

classified. In naming organisms, each organism is known by a scientific name, which consists of
2 names:
a. Generic name (derived from the genus)
b. Specific name (derived from species)
*This system of naming is called the Binomial System of Nomenclature
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 Rules in the Binomial System of Nomenclature:
1. The generic name is a single word and begins with a capital/uppercase letter.
2. The specific name is a single or compound word and begins with a small/lower case letter.
3. The generic and specific names must be underlined individually (handwritten) or typed
in italics.
Example: man: Homo sapiens or Homo sapiens
rose: Rosa setigera or Rosa setigera
dog: Canis familiaris or Canis familiaris

II. KINGDOMS OF LIFE

Traditional System of Classification – 18th century (Carolus Linnaeus – Father of

Taxonomy) made use of only 2 kingdoms:
1. Plantae – includes bacteria, blue-green algae, chrysophyta (yellow-green algae and golden-
brown algae), green algae, red algae, slime molds, true fungi, bryophytes (liverworts,
hornworts, mosses) and tracheophytes (vascular plants)
2. Animalia – includes protozoa, metazoan (Phyla: Porifera, Coelenterates, Platyhelminthes,
Annelida, Nematoda, Mollusca, Arthropoda, Echinodermata, Chordata)

*Development from Traditional to Modern System of Nomenclature

Robert Whittaker (1969) – proposed the 5-kingdom classification:
1. Bacteria
2. Protista
3. Fungia
4. Plantae
5. Animalia

Carl Woese and George Fox (1977; 1980) – proposed the 3-Domains; 6-kingdom
classification:
3 Domains:
1. Archaea
2. Bacteria
3. Eukarya
6 Kingdoms:
1. Archaebacteria
2. Eubacteria
3. Protista
- Archezoa
- Euglenozoa
- Alveolata
- Stramenopila
- Rhodophyta
4. Fungia Plantae
5. Animalia

The Modern System of Nomenclature makes use of 10 Kingdoms Classification:

1. Archaea (Domain Archaea)
2. Eubacteria (Domain Bacteria)
3. Archezoa
4. Euglenozoa
5. Alveolate
6. Stramenopila
7. Rhodophyta
8. Fungia
9. Plantae
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 10. Animalia
*Kingdom Archezoa to the multicellular Kingdom Animalia belong to Domain Eukarya

(For the sake of uniformity in our discussion, we will use the 6-kingdom Classification)
A. KINGDOM ARCHAEA – differ with true bacteria in the sequence of bases in their RNA molecules:
lack muramic acid in their cell walls, and production of distinctive lipids.
Examples: methane bacteria – furnish energy for engine fuels and for heating; salt bacteria – thrive
under extreme saline conditions; sulphobacteria – thermophilic and exceptionally acidic bacteria

B. KINGDOM BACTERIA – includes true bacteria. They are unicellular and prokaryotic i.e., lack a
nuclear membrane, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus and lysosomes; within the
cytoplasms are ribosomes only; with nucleoid region containing circular chromosomes.

Characteristics of Bacteria:
a. Occurrence: found everywhere: in soil, water, air, dead decaying organic matter, organs of
animals, etc.
▪ Aerobic – requires oxygen for their existence. e.g., Bacillus
▪ Anaerobic – live in the absence of O2, they die in the presence of O2. e.g., Clostridium
b. Has a rigid cell wall that is made up of murein (a polymer consisting of polysaccharide chains
linked together by short amino acids).
c. May be classified according to shape:
i. Coccus/cocci – spherical (e.g., Streptococcus salivarius, Staphylococcus aureus)
ii. Bacillus/ bacilli – rod-shape (e.g., Tuberculus bacillus)
iii. Spirillum – helically-shaped/ spiral (e.g., Spirillum volutans)

Many bacterial cells contain a capsule formed at the outer surface of the cell wall as a result of a
secretion of a polysaccharide material that makes the cell resistant to the defenses of the host
organism. These encapsulated strains are more likely to cause diseases.
*Spore-forming bacteria – mostly rod-shaped which can form special resting cells called
endospores, which can withstand conditions that would quickly kill normal active cells. The
endospores, which develop inside the bacterial cell and contain DNA, are enclosed in an almost
indestructible spore coat and once they are fully developed, the remainder of the cell in which
they were formed may disintegrate. They are resistant to conditions like high, boiling
temperatures, cold freezing temperatures and survive long periods of time (months and years) and
become very active when conditions become favorable with the latter, the spores germinate giving
rise to normal bacterial cells that resume growing and dividing. Examples of pathogenic spore-
forming bacteria are those that cause tetanus, gas gangrenes, botulism (type of food poisoning
and anthrax).
d. Bacterial nutrition – most bacteria are (absorptive) heterotrophs i.e., they cannot manufacture
their own food and since they cannot ingest large particles of food, they depend on the absorption
of nutrients, therefore they must live in or on their nutrient sources which are either living
organisms (parasitic) or dead remains of other organisms (saprophytic/ saprozoic).
e. Bacterial reproduction – most bacteria reproduce asexually by binary fission (asexual type of
reproduction since no sex cells are involved) and conjugation.

Importance of Bacteria
A. Beneficial Bacteria
1. Agents of decay – being a saprophytic/saprozoic, they prevent accumulation of dead bodies
and wastes
2. They function in the Nitrogen cycle. Nitrogen is an element that is vital in synthesis of
proteins and nucleic acids. Gaseous N2 makes up roughly 78% of the atmosphere. Some
bacteria are capable of using this nitrogen to synthesize nitrogen compounds that are usable
by other organisms (a process called nitrogen fixation). Plants with nitrogen-fixing bacteria
tend to increase the fertility of the soil in which they grow. Examples of such plants are
legumes.
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 a. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria – convert NH3 (ammonia) to nitrites (NO2-) and then taken in by
plants and animals. Examples: Rhizobium in roots/ nodules of leguminous plants
b. Nitrifying bacteria – convert NH3 to NO3- (nitrates). Example: Nitrosomonas
c. Nitrite bacteria – convert nitrites to nitrates. Example: Nitrobacter
d. Denitrifying bacteria – convert NO3 into atmospheric N2. Examples: Pseudomonas and
Thiobacillus
3. Aid indigestion and synthesis of vitamin K in the intestines of man
4. Used in various industries:
a. Leather industry – to soften hides of animals due to decay to make leather
b. Textile industry – e.g., ramie, piña
c. Food industry – making of dairy products like butter, yogurt, cheeses e.g., Lactobacilli
(yakult)
d. Manufacture of vinegar (Acetobacter), acetone, wine/ alcohol
e. Pharmaceutical industry – production of antibiotics, insulin, etc
B. Harmful Bacteria
1. Pathogenic – disease-causing bacteria
Examples: bubonic plague, STD (gonorrhea, syphilis), cholera, TB, dysentery, boils,
abscesses, etc.
2. Produce toxins – food poisoning (Clostridium botulinum)
3. Cause spoilage of foods

Characteristics of Blue-green Algae (Cyanobacteria)

a. Contain pigments like; chlorophyll (green pigment) and phycocyanin (blue pigment)
b. Occurrence: found in most places, freshwater and few in marine
c. Nutrition: semi-photosynthetic due to presence of chlorophyll and phycocyanin
d. Reproduction: asexual binary fission
e. Importance: food for aquatic organisms; and source of oxygen for those in the aquatic
environment (e.g., Nostoc, Oscillatoria)

C. KINGDOM PROTISTA
Candidate Kingdoms of Protists:
1. Kingdom Archezoa – lack mitochondria and may represent early eukaryotic lineages
- Includes diplomonads, trichomonads, and microsporidians
- Examples: Giardia lamblia – a parasitic diplomonad (has flagellum; freshwater) that
infects the human intestine, causing abdominal cramps and severe diarrhea (Giardiasis);
this is transmitted mainly in water contaminated with human feces; Entamoeba
histolytica (amoebic dysentery)

2. Kingdom Euglenozoa – includes both autotrophic and heterotrophic flagellates. The 2 groups of
flagellates called the euglinoids and kinetoplastids are included in this kingdom. Euglinoids
(Euglena and close relatives) are characterized by an anterior pocket from which one or two
flagella emerge. The kinetoplastids have single large mitochondrion associated with unique
organelle, the kinetoplast which houses extranuclear DNA. An example of kinetoplastid is species
Trypanosoma that causes African sleeping sickness, a human disease that is spread by the bite of
the tsetse fly.
3. Kingdom Alveolata – composed of groups of photosynthetic flagellates
- (dinoflagellates); the parasites (apicomplexans) exemplified by Plasmodium (malaria);
and a distinctive group of eukaryotes that moves by means of cilia (hair-like structure;
the ciliates) as exemplified by Paramecium. Alveolates have small membrane-bounded
cavities (alveoli – flattened sacs) under cell surfaces. Alveoli may help stabilize the cell
surface and regulate the cell’s water and ion content.

General Characteristics of Protists

a. Primarily unicellular or multicellular
b. Eukaryotes
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 c. Habitat: freshwater, marine, parasitic, moist places
d. Mode of survival:
1. Mutualism – relationship or association wherein both organisms are benefited from the
association. A shared way of life becomes obligatory for both of the population or each
is to increase.
Example: Trichonympha (a sporozoan) in the guts of termites help digest wood ingested
by the latter. The gut of termites serves as the sporozoan’s habitat.
2. Parasitism – association between 2 kinds of organisms in which one is benefited and the
other is harmed but not usually killing directly or immediately.
Examples: Plasmodium in RBC of man; Entamoeba histolytica in intestines of man
3. Commensalism – association of 2 individuals of different species wherein one is
benefitted and the other is not harmed.
Example: ciliates and Amoeba are common in the digestive tract of herbivores like
mammals and ruminants
4. Free-living – capable of independent existence
Examples: Euglena, Radiolaria, Volvox and Paramecium
e. Nutritional Mode:
1. Autotrophic/ holophytic – manufacture own nutrients/ food by photosynthesis due to
presence of chlorophyll. Examples: Euglena, dinoflagellates
2. Holozoic/ heterotrophic – feed on other plants and/or animals. e.g., Amoeba
3. Saprozoic – feed on dead decaying organisms (dead remains of plants and animals).
Example: slime molds
4. Saprophytic – feed on substances dissolved in their surroundings
f. Locomotion:
1. Flagellum – whip-like structure which moves in a rotary fashion with the undulation
passing from base to tip. This pulls the organism forward in a straight course while the
body rotates spirally (euglenoid movement). e.g., Euglena
2. Cilia – hair-like structures which can beat either forward or backward. The organism can
swim in either direction. As it moves, it rotates on its longitudinal axis moving in spiral
course. Rotation is counterclockwise when viewed from behind. Example: Paramecium
3. Pseudopodia – finger-like extension of false feet which are thrust out on any part of the
surface (amoeboid movement) to engulf a substance (e.g., Amoeba)
g. Reproduction – asexual
1. Binary fission – e.g., Amoeba, Paramecium, Euglena
2. Multiple fission/ Sporulation – e.g., Plasmodium vivax (parasite that causes malaria in
man, the vector of which are female mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles). The nucleus
divides into several parts (nuclei); each nucleus becomes surrounded by a cytoplasms and
a cell membrane, thus, resulting into several new cells.
h. Economic Importance
1. Form earth deposits – e.g., Foraminera – silica deposits; Radiolaria – lime deposits
2. Play an important role in food chains – e.g., planktons (zoo and phytoplankton) – floating
microscopic plants and animals that serve as food for aquatic organisms; dinoflagellates
(Pyrodinium bahamensi) – contain yellowish green, brown and red pigments that cause
red tide and if abundant, toxic to vertebrates and man.
3. Pathogenic – disease-causing

4. Kingdom Stramenopila – includes several groups of photosynthetic autotrophs (algae) and

numerous heterotrophs like diatoms (abundant form of phytoplankton), golden algae, brown algae
(kelps) and water molds. The term Stramenopila refers to numerous fine, hair-like projections on
the flagella that are characteristics of the organisms. This kingdom is formerly classified in
kingdom Chromista, however, the term chromista has some histological baggage and can be
misleading because it implies that pigmented plastids (chromoplasts) characterize the kingdom.
In fact, many stramenopiles such as water molds and heterotrophic lack plastids.

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 5. Kingdom Rhodophyta – are the red algae. They are multicellular photoautotrophs; cell wall of
cellulose and other polysaccharides; no flagella; some are heterotrophic parasites; have no
flagellated stages in their life cycle. Most of the red algae are multicellular and largest share the
designation “seaweeds” with the brown algae, although none of the red algae are as big as the
giant brown (kelps).

D. KINGDOM FUNGIA a.k.a KINGDOM MYCOTA

4 Fungal Phyla
1. Phylum Chytridiomycota (chytrids) – flagellated fungi; motile spores; found everywhere:
puddles, mud, soil, logs, freshwater, marine, on decaying insects, inside a wide variety of plants,
insects, worms, etc.
2. Phylum Zygomycota (zygomycetes) – prolific molds, bread molds
- Rhizopus stolonifer – grows on bread, fruits and vegetables
3. Phylum Ascomycota (ascomycetes) – sac fungi; eclectic tastes – in right conditions, they will
absorb nearly anything containing carbon, even paint and jet fuels
- Recycle plant material in soil and other live-in insects
4. Phylum Basidiomycota (basidiomycetes) – familiar club fungi
- Include mushrooms, toadstools, puffballs, stinkhorns, shelf fungi, rusts, bird’s nest fungi
and smuts.

A. General Characteristics
- Eukaryotes
- Unicellular (e.g., yeasts), multicellular (e.g., molds, mushrooms, bracket fungi)
- Lack chlorophyll
- Cell wall consists of chitin (a complex polysaccharide containing nitrogen)
- Decomposers/ parasites
B. Occurrence – decaying organic matter, water, in bodies of living organisms
C. Mode of Nutrition
1. Saprophytic – absorptive heterotrophic; secrete digestive enzymes into food materials and
absorb the products of extracellular digestion by means of root-like hyphae called rhizoids
or haustoria
2. Parasitic – e.g., bean rusts
D. Structure
a. Microscopic fungi – e.g., Rhizopus (common bread mold)
Hyphae – microscopic thread-like filaments that branch and spread over the surface of the
food supply. The hyphae of most filamentous fungi are divided by partitions or cross walls
called the septa.
Mycelium – mass of hyphae. Types:
i. Horizontal hyphae – form a network on the surface of the bread
ii. Rhizoid – root-like hyphae that penetrate into the brad and function both in anchoring
the fungi and in absorbing nutrients
iii. Upright hyphae – bear the sporangia on their ends
b. Macroscopic fungi – e.g., mushroom, puffballs and bracket fungi
- the above-ground portion or fruiting body is a solid mass of tissue consisting of hyphae,
but differentiated into a stalk (stipe) and a cap (pileus). Terminal cells of these hyphae
are located in rows or gills in the undersurface of the cap. There is also an extensive mass
of hyphae or mycelium in the soil.
E. Reproduction
a. Asexual Types:
1. Budding – an outgrowth/ bud arises from the external body surface of the organism. e.g.,
yeasts
2. Spores – e.g., Rhizopus
Thousands of asexual spores called sporangiospores are produced in each sporangium.
These spores may be carried through long distances by wind, rain or animals. if a spore

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 land on a suitable location/medium where conditions are moist and warm, they germinate
and soon give rise to a mass of hyphae.
b. “Sexual” – e.g., mushroom
Two spores, a positive and a negative untie to give rise to a hypha with 2 nuclei and develop
into the above ground part of the mushroom. Certain terminal cells on the undersurface of
cap become zygotes when their 2 nuclei fuse to form a basidium. The nucleus divides twice
to form 4 basidiospores. The tightly packed pileus or cap contains reproductive structures
called the basidium on the undersurface or gills. The basidium ejects the spores called the
basidiospores which may give rise to a new mycelium.
F. Economic Importance:
a. Together with bacteria, fungi are decomposers
b. Utilized as food – e.g., edible mushrooms, puffballs, “taingang daga”
c. Utilized in the food industry
e.g., yeast (Saccharomyces) – in bakeries, to let the dough rise; in fermentation, to produce
alcohol, wine, vinegar, soy sauce
C6H12O6 → C2H5OH + CO2
d. For the manufacture of drugs/ antibiotics e.g., Penicillium notatum
e. Pathogenic – cause disease to plants and animals
In plants – bean rust, coffee rust
In animals – skin diseases: athlete’s foot, tinea flava, ringworm
Candida albicans – diaper rash, yeast infection
f. They cause spoilage to food stuffs and bread (molds)
g. Responsible for the deterioration of leather, fabrics, lumber, paper, etc.

G. Mutualistic Relationship of Fungi with Other Organisms

1. Lichens – fungi and blue-green algae
Fungi – keeps the algae from drying out and attaches the\algae to the surface of rocks or to bark
of trees
Blue-green algae – supplies food for the fungi
2. Mycorrhiza – hyphae of fungi and roots of higher plants. The hyphae regulate the flow of mineral
ions into the plant and conserving the ions, plentiful and making them available to the plant when
they are scarce in the soil, also absorb sugars from the root cells of its host.

(The 2 kingdoms Plantae and Animalia will be included in the Final Term)
E. KINGDOM PLANTAE
F. KINGDOM ANIMALIA

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