Topic 1 - The nature and variety of living organisms Flashcards
What are the characteristics of living organisms?
They require nutrition, respire, excrete waste, respond to surroundings, move, control internal conditions, reproduce, grow and develop.
What common features are shown by eukaryotic organisms?
Plants, animals, fungi, and protoctists.
What are the characteristics of plants?
Multicellular, contain chloroplasts, carry out photosynthesis, have cellulose cell walls, store carbohydrates as starch or sucrose.
Give examples of plants.
- Flowering plants (e.g., maize)
- Herbaceous legumes (e.g., peas, beans)
What are the characteristics of animals?
Multicellular, no chloroplasts, cannot carry out photosynthesis, no cell walls, usually have nervous coordination, can move, store carbohydrates as glycogen.
Give examples of animals.
- Mammals (e.g., humans)
- Insects (e.g., housefly, mosquito)
What are the characteristics of fungi?
Not able to carry out photosynthesis, body organized into mycelium made of hyphae, cells have walls made of chitin, feed by saprotrophic nutrition.
Give examples of fungi.
- Mucor
- Yeast
What are protoctists?
Microscopic single-celled organisms; some are like animal cells (e.g., Amoeba), others like plants (e.g., Chlorella).
Provide a pathogenic example of a protoctist.
Plasmodium, responsible for causing malaria.
What are the characteristics of bacteria?
Microscopic single-celled, have a cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm, plasmids, lack a nucleus, contain circular chromosome of DNA.
Give examples of bacteria.
- Lactobacillus bulgaricus
- Pneumococcus
What is a pathogen?
An organism that causes disease, including fungi, bacteria, protoctists, or viruses.
Are viruses considered living organisms? True or False
False
What are the characteristics of viruses?
Small particles, parasitic, reproduce only inside living cells, infect all types of living organisms.
