Both the single-celled fungi used to produce antibiotics, beer and soy sauce and the multicellular versions whose fruiting bodies appear atop our steaks are heterotrophic. Unlike animals that ingest their food and nutrition, fungi absorb their energy and nutrients from their environment by secreting enzymes. Fungi play an important role in the environment as decomposers, breaking down the waste and dead bodies of other organisms.
Some fungi form symbiotic relationships with other organisms as in lichens with algae and mycorrhizae on plant roots. However, some fungi can be parasitic. It might be fair to characterize Kingdom Protista as the miscellaneous drawer for eukaryotes.
Although many protists are single-celled, mulitcellular algae are sometimes placed within this kingdom alongside the single-celled algae. Differences between algae and plants include the lack of specialized body parts.
Perhaps the most vivid example of multicellular algae lies in the kelp forests in some coastal areas. Though the kelp has parts analogous to the roots, stems and leaves, the holdfast of kelp lacks the sophistication and specialization found in the root tissues of plants. Algae often inhabit freshwater and marine environments but have also adapted to life in soil and in lichens.
Algae are autotrophic using photosynthesis to make their own food just like plants. David Chandler has been a freelance writer since whose work has appeared in various print and online publications.
A former reconnaissance Marine, he is an active hiker, diver, kayaker, sailor and angler. He has traveled extensively and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of South Florida where he was educated in international studies and microbiology.
You are probably quite familiar with the members of this kingdom as it contains all the plants that you have come to know - flowering plants , mosses, and ferns. Plants are all multicellular and consist of complex cells. In addition plants are autotrophs, organisms that make their own food. With over , species, the plant kingdom is the second largest kingdom.
Plant species range from the tiny green mosses to giant trees. Without plants, life on Earth would not exist! Plants feed almost all the heterotrophs organisms that eat other organisms on Earth. The animal kingdom is the largest kingdom with over 1 million known species. All animals consist of many complex cells.
They are also heterotrophs. Members of the animal kingdom are found in the most diverse environments in the world. To their surprise they discovered unicellular one cell organisms in the samples. These organisms are today classified in the kingdom, Archaebacteria. Archaebacteria are found in extreme environments such as hot boiling water and thermal vents under conditions with no oxygen or highly acid environments.
The biologists pictured above are immersing microscope slides in the boiling pool onto which some archaebacteria might be captured for study. Like archaebacteria, eubacteria are complex and single celled. Although many conservative references place the archaebacteria in a separate division within the kingdom Monera, most authorities now recognize them as a 6th kingdom--The kingdom Archaebacteria.
In fact, data from DNA and RNA comparisons indicate that archaebacteria are so different that they should not even be classified with bacteria. Systematists have devised a classification level higher than a kingdom, called a domain or "superkingdom," to accomodate the archaebacteria. These remarkable organisms are now placed in the domain Archaea. Other prokaryotes, including eubacteria and cyanobacteria, are placed in the domain Bacteria. All the kingdoms of eukaryotes, including Protista Protoctista , Fungi, Plantae and Animalia, are placed in the domain Eukarya.
The large molecular differences between the majority of prokaryotes in the kingdom Monera and the archaebacteria warrants a separation based on categories above the level of kingdom. In other words, the differences between the true bacteria and archaebacteria are more significant than the differences between kingdoms of eukaryotes. The book includes the three major domains which are in turn subdivided into numerous branches clades. An oversimplified 3-domain system of classification is shown in the following table.
The number of subdivisions listed by G. Lecointre and H. Guyader for each domain are shown in parentheses. See Archaebacteria: Life On Mars? The discovery of a virus called "mimivirus" in complicates the placement of viruses in the overall classification scheme for living organisms. Whether mimivirus should be placed in an existing domain superkingdom , or in its own domain, remains to be seen. Prior to this discovery, viruses were generally considered nonliving until they hijack a living cell.
Officially, this virus got its name because it mimics bacteria in size and complexity. Mimivirus was found inside an amoeba within a cooling tower in Bradford, UK.
In fact it is larger than the bacterium causing gonorrhea. The virus genome contains 1. The bases make up 1, genes, which makes it as complex as some bacteria.
In addition, mimivirus can make about of its own proteins, and can even repair its own DNA if it gets damaged. Normal viruses are not capable of protein synthesis or DNA repair on their own, they must rely on the organelles of their host cells for these activities.
For more information, see D. Raoult, et al. La Scola et al. Division Bryophyta mosses and liverworts. Division Psilophyta Psilotum or whisk fern. Division Lycophyta club mosses.
Division Sphenophyta horsetails. Division Pterophyta ferns. Division Cycadophyta cycads. Division Ginkgophyta maidenhair tree. Division Coniferophyta Pinophyta: conifers. Division Anthophyta flowering plants. Biological Organization. Species a distinct kind or unit. Twenty of the more than species of Pinus on earth.
All of these pines are native to the state of California, USA. Monterey Pine P. Bishop Pine P. Santa Cruz Island Pine P. Whitebark Pine P. Limber Pine P. Beach Pine P. Lodgepole Pine P. Western White Pine P. Knobcone Pine P.
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