CHAPTER_2_BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION- KINGDOM MONERA

INTRODUCTION: -
Need for classification of living organisms:
 In the course of time various scientists proposed different kinds of classifications.
 Early attempts of classifications (in the beginning of civilization) are not scientific
 They are completely born out of our needs like food, shelter, and clothing.
 **Biological classification of plants and animals was first proposed by Aristotle based on
simple morphological characters (Alpha taxonomy).
 Aristotle (Father of Biology & Zoology) was the first one to classify living organisms on a
scientific basis. (Book- de Historia Animalia)

Types of classifications based on numbers of kingdoms:

1. Two Kingdom Classification: -

 It was introduced by C.V Linnaeus (1735) – Father of taxonomy (also proposed artificial sexual
system of classification)
 Two kingdoms are -kingdom Plantae/ vegetabilia (Book – Species Plantarum) and kingdom
Animalia (Book- Systema Naturae)
 Kingdom Plantae includes Bacteria (prokaryotic), Algae, Fungi (heterotrophs), Bryophytes,
Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms and Angiosperms (Organisms with cell wall around their cells are
included in Plantae)
 Remaining all organisms are included in Animalia (organisms in which cells without cell wall
are included in Animalia).
 ADVANTAGES OR MERITS: -
1. Oldest classification used till recently
2. Classification of organisms into plants and animals was easily done and easy to understand.
DISADVANTAGES or DEMERITS or DRAWBACKS: -
1. Prokaryotes and eukaryotes are not distinguished. Ex: Prokaryotes like Bacteria and Blue
green algae brought together with other eukaryotes.
2. Unicellular and multicellular organisms are not distinguished. Ex: Chlamydomonas
(unicellular green alga) and Spirogyra (multi cellular green alga) organisms were placed
together under algae.
3. Photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic organisms are not distinguished. Ex: Fungi with
heterotrophic nature and chitinous cell wall are placed along with autotrophic an green plant
which contains cellulosic cell wall.
4. Besides gross morphology, other characteristics like cell structure, nature of cell wall, mode
of nutrition, habitat, methods of reproduction & evolutionary relationships are also need to
be considered as criteria.
5. Two kingdom classification used for a long time was found inadequate.
6. Classification systems for living organisms are undergone several changes over the time.
7. Number or nature of kingdoms has also been understood differently by different scientists over
time.

2. Five Kingdom Classification:

 **R.H. Whittaker (1969) proposed a Five Kingdom classification.
 Five kingdoms are Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia.
 **Plantae includes Algae, Bryophytes, Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms and Angiosperms

The main criteria for classification used by Whittaker are…

1. Complexity of cell structure: prokaryotic or eukaryotic
2. Complexity of cellular/body organization: unicellular to multicellular
3. Mode of nutrition: autotrophic or heterotrophic.
4. Types of reproduction: Sexual or asexual
 **Phylogenetic relationships: Primitive or Evolved Three-domains (kingdoms of kingdom)
system (Archaea, Bacteria &Eukarya) has also been proposed by Woese et al., (1990) that
divides the Kingdom Monera into two domains - Archaea, Bacteria, leaving the remaining
eukaryotic kingdoms in the third domain- Eukarya and thereby a six kingdom classification.
 Ratio between…
 Prokaryotic: Eukaryotic kingdoms = 1:4
 With cell walls: Without cell walls = 4:1
 With nuclear membrane: Without nuclear membrane = 4:1
 With cellulosic cell walls: Without cellulosic (non-cellulosic) cell walls = 2:2
 Unicellular: Multicellular kingdoms = 2:3
 Heterotrophic: Autotrophic kingdoms = 2:3
 Heterotrophic: Autotrophic kingdoms = 2:3
 Both autotrophic & heterotrophic: Both heterotrophic: only autotrophic: = 2:2:1
ISSUES & CONSIDERATIONS THAT INFLUENCED FIVE KINGDOM
CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS ARE:
 All prokaryotic organisms were grouped together under kingdom Monera
 All unicellular eukaryotic organisms were placed in the kingdom Protista.
 All fungal organisms are included in a separate kingdom Fungi.
 All plants are included in kingdom Plantae
 All animals are included in kingdom Animalia
1. It has put together organisms which in earlier classifications were placed in different kingdoms.
2. This kind of changes will take place in future too depending on the improvement in our
understanding of characteristics and evolutionary relationships.
3. **In the five kingdoms classification there is no mention of cellular organisms like lichens and
some acellular organisms like viruses, viroids, and prions.
Advantages of Five Kingdom Classification
1. Prokaryotes differ from all other living organisms in their cellular structure, physiology,
biochemical and reproduction process. Prokaryotes have got a separate place as kingdom
Monera in five kingdom classification.
2. Kingdom Protista as brought together Chlamydomonas and Chlorella (earlier placed in plant
kingdom) with Paramecium and Amoeba (earlier placed in animal kingdom). In five kingdom
classification Paramecium and Amoeba are placed in kingdom Protista.
3. Unicellular and multicellular organisms are kept separate.
4. Fungi are placed in a separate kingdom as their mode of nutrition differs from all other plants.
5. Autotrophs and heterotrophs are placed in separate groups.
6. Five kingdom classifications is more natural than two kingdom classification.
7. Five kingdom classifications is based on bio composition and mode of nutrition, thus it shows
series of evolution.
Disadvantages of Five Kingdom Classification
1. Unicellular algae are kept in kingdom Protista, whereas algae like multicellular organisms
are kept in kingdom Plantae. But similar organisms must be put together.
 2. There is diversity in kingdom Protista. Dissimilar organisms must not be kept in same group.
3. All organisms other than moneran show that they are polyphyletic in origin (taxon is composed
of unrelated organisms descended from more than one ancestor). It is a great shortcoming of
five kingdom classification.
4. There is no place for viruses in five kingdom classification.
Conclusion:
 There are many advantages and disadvantages of both two kingdom classification and five
kingdom classifications.
 But five kingdom classifications are very popular and accepted by all scientists.
3. Six Kingdom Classification System
 It was proposed by Carl Woese. et al., 1990.
 It was also known as the three-domain system as in it organism classification was done in three
domains, i.e., Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya
 **6 kingdoms into 3 domains are based on the sequence of 16S ribosomal RNA genes.
 It majorly used the basic principles of the five-kingdom system but divides the Monera into
2domains Archaea & Bacteria, and other eukaryotes in the 3rd domain Eukarya.
1. Archaea 2. Bacteria 3.Eukarya

 The domain eukarya contain all the eukaryotes. The four kingdoms of this domain are:
a) Protista b) Fungi c) Plantae d) Animalia
 The 3 domains are believed to originate from a common ancestor namely “Progenote - Any
(hypothesized) primordial organism in which the relationship between genotype and phenotype
was still evolving.
 **The domain Archaea has more similarities with domain Eukarya.
2.1 KINGDOM MONERA :(Monos - Single)
 Bacteria are the sole members of the Kingdom Monera.
 They are the most abundant among the micro-organisms.
 Bacteria occur almost everywhere (Ubiquitous). Hundreds of bacteria are present in a handful
of soil.
 They also live in extreme habitats such as hot springs, deserts, snow, and deep oceans
where very few other life forms can survive.
 The vast **majority of bacteria are heterotrophs, i.e., they do not synthesize their own food but
depend on other organisms or on dead organic matter for food.
 Some of the bacteria are autotrophic. (They synthesize their own food from simple inorganic
substrates. They may be photosynthetic autotrophs Ex: Chlorobium, Chromatium or
chemosynthetic autotrophs Ex: Nitrosomonas, Nitrobacter.
 **Chemosynthetic autotrophic bacteria oxidises various inorganic substances such as
nitratesand ammonia and use the released energy for ATP production. **They play a great
role in recycling nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorous, iron and sulphur.
 **Heterotrophic bacteria are most abundant in nature.
The majority are important decomposers. Many of them have a significant impact on human
affairs.
 **They are helpful in making curd from milk (Lactobacillus), production of antibiotics
(Streptomyces sps), fixing nitrogen in legume roots (Rhizobium), etc.
 Some are pathogens causing damage to human beings, crops, farm animals and pets.
ANIMAL DISEASES:
i. Cholera -Vibrio cholerae
ii. Typhoid -Salmonella typhi
iii. Tetanus -Clostridium tetani
PLANT DISEASES:
i. Citrus canker –Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri
ii. Blight of paddy –Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae
iii. Crown gall of apple - Agrobacterium tumefaciens are well known diseases caused by
different bacteria.
Nutritional classification in bacteria
Type Energy source Carbon source Examples
1. Photo autotrophs  Sun light  Atmospheric  Chlorobium –
CO2 Green Sulphur
bacterium
 Chromatium – Purple
Sulphur bacterium

2. Photo heterotrophs  Sun light  Organic  Rhodospirillum–

compounds Purple non-Sulphur
bacterium

3. Chemo autotrophs  electrons from  Atmospheric  Nitrosomonas

inorganic CO2  Nitrobacter
compounds
4. Chemo  e- from  Organic  Bacillus
heterotrophs organic compounds
a) Parasites compounds
b) Saprophytes
c) Symbionts.
 The kingdom Monera is divided into two major groups, the Eubacteria (true bacteria) and the
Archaebacteria (primitive bacteria).
 Eubacteria include several sub groups, the most distinctive of which is Cyanobacteria
(bluegreen algae)
 Other Monera members include Actinomycetes (filamentous bacteria), Mycoplasma, Rickettsiae
2.1.1 Archaebacteria: - Primitive bacteria/ Living fossil/Progenote:
 **Archaebacteria differ from other bacteria in having a different cell wall structure (cell wall
does not contain peptidoglycan and contains Pseudo-peptidoglycan or Pseudomurein) and
chemical nature of cell membrane (have ether bonds with the branching of aliphatic acids in
their lipid membrane.) this feature is responsible for their survival in extreme conditions.

 **Methanogens are present in the gut of several ruminant animals such as cows and buffaloes
and they are responsible for the production of methane (biogas) from the dung of these animals.
 **Methanogens are archaean microorganisms that produce methane (CH4) as a metabolic
by-product in anaerobic conditions and form symbiotic life.
 Anaerobic conditions where methanogens may be found include:
I. Wetlands (e.g. swamps and marshes)
II. Marine sediments (e.g. in the mud of lake beds)
III. Digestive tract of ruminant animals (e.g. cows, sheep, goats)
 Methanogens produce methane from the by-products of anaerobic digestion,
principally acetic acid, and carbon dioxide:
 Acetic acid → Methane and Carbon Dioxide (CH3COO– + H+ → CH4 + CO2)
 Carbon Dioxide and Hydrogen → Methane and Water (CO2 + 4 H2 → CH4 + 2 H2O)
 2.1.2 Eubacteria:
 **Anton von Leeuwenhoek (1675), a Dutch naturalist discovered bacteria and interestingly
termed those as tiny animalcules. Linnaeus (1758) called them vermes.
 Bacteria were traditionally believed to be microscopic unicellular organisms that reproduce by
fission.
 **Ehrenberg (1838) first coined the word Bacteria (Gk. Bakteron = small rod) for these
small organisms.
 **Bacteria are grouped under four categories based on their shape:

GRAM STAINING METHOD- BY CHRISTIAN GRAM

 The Gram stain is the most important staining procedure in microbiology. It is used to differentiate
between gram positive organisms and gram-negative organisms. Hence, it is a differential stain.
Gram negative and gram-positive organisms are distinguished from each otherby differences in their
cell walls.

REPRODUCTION IN BACTERIA:
I. a) Asexual Reproduction: - By Binary Fission
 **Bacteria reproduce asexually mainly by binary fission (amitosis) during favourable conditions.
I. b) Asexual Reproduction: - By endospores formation:
 Sometimes, under unfavourable conditions, they produce endospores. Eg., Bacillus sps.
 Endospore is highly resistant to very high and very low temperature, strong chemicals, and
acids, etc., due to calcium ions – Ca2+, dipicolinic acid and peptidoglycan in cell wall.
 Dipicolinic acid (DPA) helps in stabilizing its proteins. DPA and Ca ions provide resistance to
heat.

II. b) Sexual Reproduction: - 3 methods

 They also reproduce by sort of sexual reproduction by adopting a primitive type of DNA
transfer.ie, true sexual reproduction is absent- no meiosis, syngamy & zygote formation
(conjugation, transformation, Transduction) form one bacterium to the other.
1. CYANOBACTERIA: (BLUE GREEN ALGAE)
 Cyanobacteria (Gk. Cyano = blue, bacto = rod) or blue green algae are gram negative
photosynthetic prokaryotes - Producers.
 These are most primitive organisms to have first oxygenic photosynthesis – release O2.
(During bacterial photosynthesis O2 is not evolved because H2O in not hydrogen donor
instead of H2S)
 They are the most successful and self-dependent organisms on the earth and
survivedsuccessfully for more than three billion years.
 They added oxygen to the atmosphere, which is indispensable for the existence of
aerobic forms of living organisms
 They are also called Cyanophyceae (due to blue green colour) and Myxophyceae (gelatinous
sheath that makes them slippery) or Cyanobacteria (as they resemble bacteria), Blue green
algae are prokaryotic in nature.
 They may be unicellular (Spirulina), Multi cellular filamentous (Nostoc & Anabaena), and
Colonial (Microcystis).
 **The cyanobacteria have chlorophyll a similar to green plant and are photosynthetic
autotrophs.
 They often form blooms in polluted water (lower oxygen levels) bodies.
 **Some of these organisms can fix atmospheric nitrogen in specialized cells called heterocyst,
e.g., Nostoc and Anabaena.

 Nitrogen fixation under anaerobic conditions mainly occurs in specialized cells called
heterocysts.
 Heterocysts are large sized pale coloured mucilage free, thick-walled cells which are
 impermeable to oxygen.
 They fix nitrogen from di-nitrogen (N2) in the air using the enzyme nitrogenase encoded bynif
(nitrogen fixing) genes, in order to provide the cells in the filament with nitrogen for
biosynthesis.
 Nitrogenase is inactivated by oxygen, so the heterocyst must create a micro anaerobic
environment.
 **In heterocystous forms like Nostoc Anabaena and Aulosira nitrogen fixation occurs inthese
thick walled heterocysts.
 **In non-heterocyst forms, mucilage covering compensates the absence of heterocysts
(Oscillatoria, Phormidium).
 **Trichodesmium erythraeum – cause red sea become red colour.
2. MYCOPLASMAS: (PPLO’s- PleuroPneumonia Like Organisms):
 **The Mycoplasmas are organisms that completely lack a cell wall and are pleomorphic in
nature (ability to change their shape) and appears like “Fried Egg” in culture and also called
“Jockers of the plant kingdom”.
 ** Due to absence of cell wall, they are insensitive to penicillin & lysozyme.
 **They are the smallest living cells known and can survive without oxygen – anaerobes
“Obligate anaerobes. (= methanogens).
 MLO (Mycoplasma-Like Organisms) or PPLO (pleuropneumonia like organisms) was
discovered by Nocard and Roux (1898) in pleural fluid of cattle having bovine
pleuropneumonia.
 Mycoplasma causes various diseases in plants, animals and human beings.

I. Plant diseases:
 The mycoplasma diseases are generally transmitted through insects such as leaf hopper, mites
and flies.
**(i) Witches’ broom (ii) Aster yellow (iii) Brinjal little leaf
**(iv) Bunchy top of Papaya (v) Sesame phyllody **(vi) Sandal spike
II. Diseases in animals:
(i) Pleuropneumonia in cattle (ii) Inflammation of genitals
(iii) Agalactia of sheep and goat
III. Diseases in human beings:
(i) Infertility in man (ii) Primary atypical pneumonia
