Section 1: The Nature and Variety of Living Organisms Flashcards
What are the characteristics of all living organisms?
All living organisms move, reproduce, require nutrition, excrete, go through respiration, grow and are able to control their internal conditions.
What are the five kingdoms of organisms?
Plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, protoctists, viruses
What are the main characteristics of all organisms in the plant kingdom?
Multicellular, go through photosynthesis to make food, cells have cell walls made of cellulose.
What are some examples of plants?
Flowering plants, maize, herbaceous legumes (peas and beans)
What are the main features of organisms in the animal kingdom?
Multicellular, no cell walls, generally have nervous co-ordination
What are some examples of animals?
Humans, houseflies, mosquitoes
What are the main features of organisms in the fungi kingdom?
Can be multicellular or unicellular, cell wall made of chitin, multinucleate in hyphae
What are some examples of fungi?
Dermatophytes (cause Athlete’s foot) and Candida albicans (causes thrush)
What are the main features of bacteria?
Single-called, cell wall made of peptidoglycan, genetic information stored in plasmid
What are some examples of bacteria?
Pneumococcus (causes pneumonia) and mycobacterium tuberculosis (causes tuberculosis)
What are the main features of protoctists?
Mostly unicellular, only some have cell walls, genetic information enclosed in a nucleus
What are some examples of protoctists?
Amoeba, plasmodium (causes malaria), trypanosoma (sleeping sickness)
What are the main features of viruses?
Parasitic, can only reproduce inside living cells, not cellular, protein coat which contains genetic information (capsid)
What are some examples of viruses?
Rhino virus (common cold), influenza virus (flu), HIV virus (AIDS)
What is a micro-organism or microbe?
Organisms that are microscopic
