Biological Classification

 Biological Classification is the scientific procedure of arranging organisms into

groups and subgroups on the basis of their similarities and dissimilarities and
placing the group in a hierarchy of categories.
 Aristotle was the earliest to attempt a more scientific basis for classification. He
classified plants into trees, shrubs, and herbs. He divided animals into two – those
which had red blood and those that did not.
 Linnaeus developed a two-kingdom
classification – plantae and animalia. This
system did not distinguish between
eukaryotes and prokaryotes, unicellular and
multicellular organisms.
 A three kingdom, by Haeckel classification
was also proposed (Plantae, Protista,
Animalia). He separated
uni-cellular organisms, algae, and fungi
on the basis of lack of tissue differentiation
 R.H. Whittaker proposed a 5-kingdom
classification.
The main criteria used by him includes cell structure, body organisation, mode of
nutrition, reproduction, and phylogenetic relationships.
 Earlier classification:
o Included bacteria, blue green algae(cyanobacteria), fungi, mosses, fern,
gymnosperms, and angiosperms under ‘Plants.’
o The unifying character was the presence of a cell wall.
o Grouped together organisms with vast differences, e.g., prokaryotic bacteria and
eukaryotic plants
 Problems with earlier classification:
o Mixed unicellular and multicellular organisms (e.g.: Chlamydomonas and
Spirogyra)
o Did not distinguish between auto-trophic (plants) and heterotrophic group (fungi)
organisms.
o Did not consider differences in cell wall composition (fungi – chitin, plants –
cellulose)
 Kingdom Fungi: Recognized as separate kingdom because of heterotrophic nature
and chitin cell walls
 Kingdom Monera: includes all prokaryotes (bacteria, cyanobacteria).
 Kingdom Protista:
o Included unicellular eukaryotes.
o Brought together organisms earlier placed separately (Chlamydomonas and
chlorella – previously in algae, have cells walls and Paramecium and Amoeba -
previously in animal Kingdom, no cell wall).
 It aims on classification based on phylogeny (evolutionary relationships), not just
superficial traits.

Kingdom Monera:
 Bacteria are the sole members of Kingdom Monera. They are the most abundant
microorganisms. They also live in extreme habitats such as hot Springs, deserts,
snow, and deep oceans where very few life forms can survive. Many of them live
organisms as parasites.
 Bacteria are grouped under 4 categories based on their shape: Coccus(spherical),
Bacillus(rod-shaped), Vibrium(comma), and Spirillum(spiral).
 Though bacterial structures very simple, they are very complex in behaviour.
Compared to other organisms, bacteria show the most extensive metabolic
diversity.
 Archaebacteria: Live in harsh habitats – extremely salty areas(halophiles), hot
springs(thermoacidophiles), and marshy areas(methanogens).
Archaebacteria have different cell wall structure, helping them survive extreme
conditions.
Methanogens are present in the gut of ruminant animals like cows, buffaloes and
are responsible for production of methane(biogas) from the dung of these animals
 Eubacteria(true bacteria): They are characterised by their rigid cell wall, and, if
motile, a flagellum.
o Cyanobacteria(blue-green algae):
They have chlorophyll a (like green plants) and are called photosynthetic
autotrophs
They are unicellular, colonial, or filamentous, freshwater/marine, or terrestrial
algae surrounded by a gelatinous sheath.
They can form blooms in polluted water.
Some cyanobacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen in specialised cells called
heterocysts (nostoc, anabaena)
o Chemosynthetic autotrophic bacteria:
They oxidise various inorganic substances such as nitrates, nitrites, and
ammonia and use the released energy for ATP production.
They play a great role in recycling nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, and
sulphur.
o Heterotrophic bacteria:
They are the most abundant in nature and majority are important decomposers.
They have a significant impact on human affairs - they help make curd from milk,
production of antibiotics, fixing nitrogen in legume roots, etc.
Some are pathogens which cause damage to human beings, crops, farm animals,
and pets. Cholera, typhoid, tetanus, citrus canker are well known diseases
caused by different bacteria.
o Bacteria reproduce by fission and sometimes under unfavourable conditions,
they produce spores. They also reproduce by a sort of sexual reproduction by
adopting a primitive type of DNA transfer from one bacterium to another.
o The mycoplasma are organisms that completely lack a cell wall. They are the
smallest living cells known and can survive without oxygen. Many mycoplasma
are pathogenic in animals and plants.

Kingdom Protista:
 It includes all single celled eukaryotes, but the boundaries of this kingdom are not
well defined. E.g.: What may be a photosynthetic protistan to one biologist maybe
a plant to another. They are primarily aquatic.
 Protista includes Chrysophytes, Dinoflagellates, Euglenoids, Slime moulds, and
Protozoans.
 This kingdom forms a link with the others dealing with plants, animals, and fungi.
 The protistan cell body contains a well-defined nucleus and other membrane bound
organelles. Some have flagella or cilia.
 They reproduce asexually or sexually by a process involving cell fusion and zygote
formation.
o Chrysophytes
This group includes diatoms and golden algae(desmids). They are found in
freshwater and marine environments.
They are microscopic and float passively in water currents(plankton). They are
mostly photosynthetic.
In diatoms, the cell walls form two thin overlapping shells which fit together as in
a soap box. The walls are embedded with silica and are indestructible.
Diatoms have left behind large amount of cell wall deposits in their habitat and
the accumulation is called diatomaceous earth. It is used in polishing, filtration of
oils and syrups.
Diatoms are the chief producers in the ocean.
o Dinoflagellates
They are mostly marine and photosynthetic. They appear yellow, green, brown,
blue, or red depending on the main pigments.
The cell wall has stiff cellulose plates on the outer surface. Most of them have
two flagella - one lies longitudinally and other transversely in a furrow between
wall plates.
Red dinoflagellates undergo rapid multiplication and make the sea appear red
(red tides). Toxins released by such large numbers may even kill other marine
animals such as fishes. (Gonyaulax)

o Euglenoids
Majority of them are freshwater organisms found in stagnant water.
Instead of cell wall, they have a rich protein layer called pellicle which makes
their body flexible.
They have two flagella - one short and one long.
Their photosynthetic in the presence of sunlight, when deprived of sunlight they
behave like heterotrophs by predating on other smaller organisms.
The pigments of euglenoids are identical to those present in higher plants. E.g.:
Euglena
o Slime moulds
Slime moulds are saprophytic protists. The body moves along decaying twigs
and leaves engulfing organic material.
Under suitable conditions, they form an aggregation called plasmodium. During
unfavourable conditions, the plasmodium differentiates and forms fruiting bodies
bearing spores at their tips which present true walls.
 They are extremely resistant and survive for many years, even under adverse
conditions. The spores are dispersed by air currents.
o Protozoans
All protozoans are heterotrophs. They live as predators or parasites. They are
believed to be primitive relatives of animals.
Amoeboid protozoans: These organisms live in freshwater, sea water or moist
soil. They move and capture their prey using pseudopodia (Amoeba). Marine
forms have silica shells on their surface. Some of them such as Entamoeba are
parasites.
Flagellated protozoans: The members of this group are either free living or
parasitic. They have flagella. The parasitic forms cause diseases such as sleeping
sickness E.g.: Trypanosoma.
Ciliated protozoans: They are aquatic, actively moving because of presence of
thousands of cilia. They have a cavity(gullet) That opens to the outside of the
cell surface. The coordinated movement of rows of cilia causes the water laden
with food to be steered into the gullet. (E.g.: Paramecium)
Sporozoans: It includes diverse organisms that have an infectious spore-like
stage in their life cycle. The most notorious is plasmodium which causes malaria,
a disease which has a staggering effect on human population.

Kingdom Fungi:

 They consist of a unique kingdom of heterotrophic organisms and are diverse in

morphology and habitat.
 Examples:
o Moist bread, rotten fruits – fungi commonly seen.
o Common mushroom, toadstools – examples of fungi.
o White spots on mustard leaves – caused by a parasitic fungus.
o Yeast: a unicellular fungus, used in bread and beer production.
o Disease-causing fungi: Puccinia (wheat rust).
o Antibiotic source: Penicillium.
 Fungi are cosmopolitan and occur in air, water, soil, and on animals and plants.
They prefer to grow in warm and humid places.
 Their bodies consist of long, slender thread-like structures called hyphae. The
network of hyphae is called mycelium.
 Some hyphae are continuous tubes with multinucleated cytoplasm – coenocytic
hyphae, and others have septae or cross walls in their hyphae.
 Cell walls are composed of chitin and polysaccharides.

 Types of fungi:
o Saprophytes - Most fungi are heterotrophic and absorb soluble organic matter
from dead substrates.
o Parasites - Those organisms that depend on living plants and animals. They can
also live as symbionts - an association with algae as lichens and with roots of
higher plants as mycorrhiza.
 Reproduction in fungi can take place by vegetative means – fragmentation, fission
and budding. Asexual reproduction is by spores called conidia/
sporangiospores/zoospores
 Sexual reproduction takes place by oospores, ascospores, and basidiospores. The
various spores are produced in fruiting bodies.
 The sexual cycle involves the following three steps:
o Fusion of protoplasm's between two motile and non-motile gametes called
plasmogamy.
o Fusion of two nuclei called karyogamy.
o Meiosis in zygote resulting in haploid spores
 When a fungus reproduces sexually, 2 haploid cells hyphae of compatible mating
types come together and fuse. In some fungi, the fusion immediately results in
diploid cells(2n).
 However, in other fungi (ascomycetes and basidiomycetes), an intervening
dikaryotic stage (n + n, i.e., 2 nuclei per cell) occurs; such a condition is called a
dikaryon and the phase is called dikaryophase of fungus. Later, the parental nuclei
fuse and cells become diploid.
 The fungi form fruiting bodies in which reduction division occurs, leading to
formation of haploid spores.
 The morphology of the mycelium, mode of spore formation and fruiting bodies form
the basis for the division of the kingdom into various classes.
o Phycomycetes:
Members of phycomycetes are found in aquatic habitats and on decaying wood
in moist and damp places or as obligate parasites on plants.
The mycelium is aseptate and coenocytic.
Asexual reproduction takes place by zoospores (motile) or by aplanospores (non-
motile). These spores are endogenously produced in sporangium.
A zygospore is formed by fusion of two gametes. These gametes are similar in
morphology (isogamous) or dissimilar (anisogamous or oogamous). Some
common examples are Mucor, Rhizopus (bread mould) and Albugo (parasitic
fungi on mustard).
o Ascomycetes
Commonly known as sac-fungi, the ascomycetes are mostly multicellular,
(Penicillium), or rarely unicellular, e.g., yeast (Saccharomyces).
They are saprophytic, decomposers, parasitic or coprophilous (growing on dung).
Mycelium is branched and septate.
The asexual spores are conidia produced exogenously on the special mycelium
called conidiophores. Conidia on germination produce mycelium.
Sexual spores are called ascospores which are produced endogenously in sac like
asci (singular ascus). These asci are arranged in different types of fruiting bodies
called ascocarps. Some examples are Aspergillus, Claviceps and Neurospora.
Neurospora is used extensively in biochemical and genetic work. Many members
like morels and truffles are edible and are considered delicacies.
o Basidiomycetes
Commonly known forms of basidiomycetes are mushrooms, bracket fungi or
puffballs.
 They grow in soil, on logs and tree stumps and in living plant bodies as parasites,
e.g., rusts and smuts. The mycelium is branched and septate.
The asexual spores are generally not found, but vegetative reproduction by
fragmentation is common.
The sex organs are absent, but plasmogamy is brought about by fusion of two
vegetative or somatic cells of different strains or genotypes. The resultant
structure is dikaryotic which ultimately gives rise to basidium.
Karyogamy and meiosis take place in the basidium producing four basidiospores.
The basidiospores are exogenously produced on the basidium (pl.: basidia). The
basidia are arranged in fruiting bodies called basidiocarps. Some common
members are Agaricus (mushroom) , Ustilago (smut) and Puccinia (rust fungus).
o Deuteromycetes
o Commonly known as imperfect fungi because only the asexual or vegetative
phases of these fungi are known.
o When the sexual forms of these fungi were discovered they were moved into
classes they rightly belong to.
o It is also possible that the asexual and vegetative stage have been given one
name (and placed under deuteromycetes) and the sexual stage another (and
placed under another class).
o Later when linkages were established, the fungi were correctly identified and
moved out of deuteromycetes.
o Once perfect (sexual) stages of members of deuteromycetes were discovered,
they were often moved to ascomycetes and basidiomycetes.
o The deuteromycetes reproduce only by asexual spores known as conidia. The
mycelium is septate and branched.
o Some members are saprophytes or parasites while a large number of them are
decomposers of litter and help in mineral cycling. Some examples are Alternaria,
Colletotrichum and Trichoderma.

Kingdom Plantae

 Includes all eukaryotic chlorophyll-containing organisms called plants. Few

members are partially heterotrophic such as insectivorous plants(Bladderwort and
Venus fly trap) and Cuscuta is a parasite.
 These plants have a eukaryotic structure with prominent chloroplasts and cell wall
mainly made of cellulose.
 Plantae includes algae, bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms and
angiosperms.
 Life cycle of plants has two distinct phases – the diploid sporophytic and the
haploid gametophytic – that alternate with each other.
 The lengths of the haploid and diploid phases, and whether these phases are free–
living or dependent on others, vary among different groups in plants. This
phenomenon is called alternation of generations.

Kingdom Animalia

 It’s characterised by heterotrophic eukaryotic organisms that are multicellular and

their cells lack cell walls.
 They directly or indirectly depend on plants for food. They digest their food in an
internal cavity and store food reserves as glycogen or fat. Their mode of nutrition is
holozoic – by ingestion of food.
 They follow a definite growth pattern and grow into adults that have a definite
shape and size.
 Higher forms show elaborate sensory and neuromotor mechanism. Most of them
are capable of locomotion.
 The sexual reproduction is by copulation of male and female followed by
embryological development

Viruses, Viroid, Prions,(Acellular organisms) and Lichens (Organisms not included in

Whittaker’s 5 kingdom classification)

 Viruses
o They are not considered truly living and they are non-cellular organisms that are
characterised by having an inert crystalline structure outside the living cell.
o Viruses have proteins and genetic material, that could be DNA or RNA. No virus
can contain both RNA and DNA.
 Viroid
o In 1971, T.O. Diener discovered a new infectious agent that was smaller than
viruses and caused potato spindle tuber disease.
o It was found to be a free RNA; it lacked the protein coat that is found in viruses,
hence the name viroid. The RNA of the viroid was of low molecular weight.
 Prions
o In modern medicine certain infectious neurological diseases were found to be
transmitted by an agent consisting of abnormally folded protein. The agent was
similar in size to viruses. These agents were called prions.
o The most notable diseases caused by prions are bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE) commonly called mad cow disease in cattle and its
analogous variant Creutzfeldt–Jacob disease (CJD) in humans.
 Lichens
o Lichens are symbiotic associations i.e. mutually useful associations, between
algae and fungi.
o The algal component is known as phycobiont and fungal component as
mycobiont, which are autotrophic and heterotrophic, respectively.
o Algae prepare food for fungi and fungi provide shelter and absorb mineral
nutrients and water for its partner.
o So close is their association that if one saw a lichen in nature one would never
imagine that they had two different organisms within them.
o Lichens are very good pollution indicators – they do not grow in polluted areas