Unit 2.

Monera, protoctists and fungi

1. The monera kingdom IES MAESTRO HAEDO

Dpto. Ciencias Naturales
2. The protoctist Kingdom Prof. Ángel Viñas San Narciso

3. The fungi kingdom

1. Monera Kingdom
a) General characteristics:
̶ Organization level 1: unicellular prokaryotic
organisms.
̶ The most important group is bacteria, microbial
organisms which can adapt to all environments
because they can resist the most extreme conditions
(temperature, acidity levels, salinity…)
b) Types:
̶ Cocci: are spherical
̶ Bacilli: are rod-shaped
̶ Vibrios: are comma-shaped
̶ Spirilla and spirochaeta: have an elongated spiral
shape.
c) Vital functions:
− Nutrition: autotrophic / heterotrophic that feed:
• Saprophytes: on decomposing organic remains
• Parasites: on other living beings causing them
illnesses
• Symbionts: on other living beings causing mutual
benefit
− Interaction: some don’t move/some move by
means of flagella, or by twisting, spinning
around, sliding over surfaces…
− Reproduction: asexual cell division by binary
fission to form colonies.
d) The importance of bacteria:
− They are in all environments, including our own
bodies, this is why they are so important to us.
− Helpful bacteria:
• Symbiotic and saprophytic bacteria found in our
bodies: help us to function properly.
• Decomposer bacteria: treatment of sewage and waste
• Photosynthetic: oxygenate water and the atmosphere.
• Fermentative: make cheese, yoghurt, pickles and
charcuterie.
– Harmful bacteria:
• Can cause diseases such as tetanus, salmonellosis…
• Can contaminate water, food and spoil it.
• Can spoil crops and cattle.
Photosynthetic
bacteria:
Cyanobacteria
Cocci and bacilli
Saprophytic soil
Bacteria
Saprophytic/Parasitic intestinal bacteria
Symbiotic bacteria in legumious roots
Symbiotic intestinal bacteria
Symbiotic bioluminiscent bacteria
Bacterial flagellar movement
2. The protoctist kingdom
a) Organization level 1 and 2: unicellular and
multicellular eukaryotic organisms without tissues.
They are protozoa and algae.
b) Protozoa:
− Organization: aquatic eukaryotic animal level 1 organisms.
− Classification:
• Ciliate: have tiny moving filaments all around their surface called
cilia. E.g. Paramecium.
• Flagellate: have a single filament called flagellum that they move
like a whip. E.g. Trypanosoma.
• Rhizopod: move or capture food by means of foot-like projections
of the cytoplasm known as pseudopods. E.g. Amoeba.
• Sporozoan: parasitic protozoa without movement structures and
can form resistant structures or spores. E.g. Plasmodium
– Vital functions of protozoa:
• Nutrition heterotrophic, that feed on:
o Saprophytes: they feed on small organic particles from water.
o Hunters: they hunt micro-organisms
o Parasites: they feed on other organisms causing them illnesses
(malaria, sleeping sickness…)
• Interaction. Some don’t move/some move by using their
flagella, cilia or pseudopods to:
o Capture food,
o Flee,
o Withdraw from light.
• Reproduction:
o Asexual cell division in two daughter cells
o Sexual, through gametes.
– The importance of protozoa:
• Helpful protozoa:
o Treatment of sewage: feed on decomposer bacteria that it
contains.
o Serve as Food: plankton.
• Harmful protozoa:
o Can cause diseases such as malaria (spread by mosquito
bites), or amebiasis (transmitted through water or
contaminated food)…
c) Algae:
− Organization: they are aquatic (fresh or salt water)
eukaryotic plant beings.
• level 1: unicellular (mostly colonial) organisms.
• Level 2 organisms: multicellular without tissues.
– Classification multicellular algae depending on their
pigment (in addition to chlorophyll):
• Brown algae: with orange pigments
• Green algae: predominantly contain chlorophyll
• Red algae: with red pigments
− Vital functions
• Nutrition: autotrophic, they are photosynthetic beings
(thanks to the chlorophyll of their chloroplasts)
• Interaction:
o Unicellular algae: have flagella to move towards light.
o Multicellular: live attached to rocks or floating on the
water´s surface.
• Reproduction:
o Asexually:
➢ Binary fission: the unicellular algae split in two
daughter cells.
➢ Fragmentation: the multicellular algae form new
individuals from a fragment of another.
➢ Sporulation: new individuals formed out of an
specialized cells called spores.
o Sexually: though gametes that fuse to form a zygote.
o Alternation of sexual and asexual generations: can be
found in some multicellular algae.
− Importance of algae:
• Helpful algae:
o Reduce CO2 and oxygenate oceans and the atmosphere
(because of photosynthesis).
o Serve as food for humans and cattle and fertilizer in
farming.
• Harmful:
o Can cause red tides with toxins which harm flora, fauna
and even humans through contaminated seafood.
o Algae overgrowth can cause serious problems in lakes
Malaria’s Plasmodium inside erythrocyte
Amoebas reproduction
 Unicellular algae
• v
Algae chloroplasts
Multicellular algae
Algae overgrowth cause problems
3. The Fungi kingdom
a) General characteristics
– Organization : they are eukaryotic beings with cells
with a wall and heterotrophic.
• level 1: unicellular organisms.
• Level 2: multicellular without tissues.
o Their cells are long, like thread, and they are called
hyphae (pl.) (hypha)
o Its body (mycelium) is made of lots of hyphae packed
together
− Environment: they live in moist, warm places
protected from light.
b) Types:
− Yeast: unicellular fungi
− Moulds: level 2 fungi whose mycelium has a cotton-
like appearance. Live on food, skin or moist ground.
− Mushroom-forming fungi: level 2 fungi whose
mycelium grows underground and form reproductive
structures (the mushroom) to form and disseminate
spores. Live on woods and meadows.
c) Vital functions:
– Nutrition: heterotrophic that feed:
• Saprotrophs: on decomposing organic remains. E.g.
Moulds, yeast, mushrooms.
• Parasites: on other living beings causing them illnesses
• Symbionts: on autotrophic beings causing mutual benefit.
E.g. Lichens (on algae) and Mycorrizha (on plants)
– Interaction:
• They don’t move
• They usually live on soil, attached to the ground or plants.
– Reproduction: asexual and sexual.
• Asexual budding: in yeast, a mother cell develops a bud that
grows to become a daughter cell.
• Asexual sporulation: in some multicellular fungi (mostly
moulds) by structures called conidia.
• Sexual sporulation: in multicellular fungi by fruiting
structures (mainly mushroom). The spores formed by the
mushroom will disseminate, germinate and generate a new
individual.
Yeast
Fungi organization
Level 2
Saprophytic fungi
Parasitic fungi on plants
Symbiotic fungi on plants: Mycorrhiza
 Fungi – plants interaction:
1- Parasites; 2, 3, 4 & 5 – Symbiotic mycorrhizae
Fungi reproduction
d) Importance of fungi:
– Helpful: for forming humus (soil of the forest /
farming), in gastronomy, to produce drugs
(antibiotics), alcoholic drinks and food.
– Harmful:
• Parasitic fungi: produce diseases in humans
(athlete’s foot, ringworm…) or infect plants and
damage crops.
• Poisonous fungi: produce toxins, so they can be
fatal when consumed by mistake.