Five Kingdoms

Question 1

What are the 5 kingdoms?

Answer 1

• Prokaryotae (bacteria)
• Protoctista (unicellular eukaryotes)
• Fungi (yeast, moulds and mushrooms)
• Plantae (plants)
• Animalia (animals)

Organisms were originally classified into these kingdoms based in similarities in their observable features.

Question 2

Prokaryotae

Answer 2

• Unicellular
• No nucleus or other membrane bound organelles - ring of DNA
• No visible feeding mechanism - nutrients are absorbed through cell wall or produced internally

Question 3

Protoctista

Answer 3

• Mainly unicellular
• Nucleus and other membrane bound organelles
• Some have chloroplast
• Some are sessile (fixed in one place), but others move by cilia, flagella, or by amoeboid mechanisms.
• Nutrients acquired by photosynthesis (autotrophic feeders), ingestion of other organisms (heterotrophic feeders), or both

Question 4

Fungi

Answer 4

• Unicellular or multicellular
• Nucleus and other membrane bound organelles and cell wall mainly made of chitin
• No chloroplast
• No mechanisms for locomotion (ability to move places)
• Most have a body of mycelium made of threads/hyphae
• Saprophytic feeders - acquire nutrients by absorbing decaying material.
• Store food as glycogen

Question 5

Plantae

Answer 5

• Multicellular
• A nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles like chloroplasts and cell wall made of cellulose
• Contains chlorophyll
• Most don’t move, some gametes move using cilia or flagella
• Autotrophic - acquire nutrients by photosynthesis.
• Store food as starch

Question 6

Animalia

Answer 6

• Multicellular
• Nucleus and other membrane bound organelles, no cell walls
• No chloroplasts
• Move with aid of cilia, flagella, or contractile proteins, sometimes in the form of muscular organs.
• Heterotrophic feeders as nutrients acquired by ingestion
• Food stored as glycogen