Unit 7

DIVERSITY OF LIFE
VIRUSES
 Non-living particles due to inability to
perform metabolic activities.
 Can be purified and crystallized and
stored.
 Considered as obligate intracellular
parasites (cannot multiply outside a living
cell).
 Can infect all sorts of cell but very
specific.
Discovery of Virus
 1884, Louis Pasteur, French chemist, suggested
that something smaller than a bacterium.
 1892, Dmitri Ivanowsky, Russian biologist,
studied tobacco mosaic disease and concluded
that the disease-causing agent was smaller than
any known bacteria and concluded that it was a
toxin rather than a microorganism.
Viral Structure
 Outer capsid
 Composed of protein-subunits.
 Maybe surrounded by an outer membranous
envelope.
 Inner core of nucleic acid
 Either DNA or RNA but not both.
 May contain various proteins needed to produce
viral DNA or RNA.
TYPES OF VIRUS
As to Host cells

1Plant viruses- live only in the cells of seed plant,

especially flowering plants.
2Human and animal viruses- live only in human
and animal cells.
3 Bacteriophages- invade only bacterial cells.
As agent of diseases

1. Virulent- can cause a disease to the host

immediately.
2. Temperate- does not cause a disease to the
host immediately.
As to the type of nucleic acid
1. DNA virus- contains DNA as the genetic
material, can cause sore throat, warts, herpes,
chicken pox, and small pox.
2. RNA virus- contains RNA as the genetic
material, can cause polio, flu, common colds,
hepatatis, and rabies.
3. Retrovirus- contains an enzyme, reverse
transcriptase, that makes DNA from RNA, the
DNA formed makes new RNA, which in turn
makes new protein to be part of a new virus, e.g.
HIV
Illustrations of
viruses
 Selected Groups of VIRUSES &
VIRAL DISEASES
VIRUS DISEASE
1. Herpes zoster ---- Shingles
2. Hepatitis A & B ---- Liver disease
(Hepatitis)
3. Myxovirus parotidis ---- Mumps
4. Poliovirus ---- Poliomyelitis
5. Rhabdovirus ---- Rabies
BACTERIA
 Bacteria

 The only representative of kingdom Monera.

 The most abundant and most common
organisms on earth.
 Believed to be the first form of life on earth.
 No membrane-surrounded nucleus but with
nuclear region called nucleoid
Types of Bacterial Cells
As to shape

1.Coccus (cocci)- sphere-

shaped or globular in
shape.
Different Sizes of VIRUSES
COCCI
2. Bacillus (bacilli)-
cylindrical or rod-
shaped
PLEOMORPHIC SPIRALLAE
3. Spirillum (spirilla)-
spiral or corkscrew-
shaped.
Structure and Reproduction
 They lack the internal organization which is the
distinctive feature of eukaryotic cell.
 No membrane-bound nucleus and a system of
endoplasmic reticulum.
 The cytoplasm contains no internal compartments
or organelle.
 Have cell walls consisting of a network of
polysaccharide molecules.
 Genetic recombination is through formation of
cytoplasmic connection between two cells where
part of the chromosomes or plasmid can be
transferred.
The mode of division is binary
fission
◦ An individual cell simply increases in size and
its cell membrane and cell wall grow inward and
eventually divide the cell into two by forming a
new wall from the outside toward the center of
the old cell.
◦ The resulting two cells are genetically identical
with each other.
Significance of Bacteria
 Majority of bacteria are entirely harmless and some
are even beneficial to humans.
 Useful in industry, particularly in production of
dairy products, vinegar, acetone, vitamins, and
antibiotics.
 Also used in genetic engineering for the production
of some useful substances such as insulin.
 Play a very important role in the cycle of nutrients
as decomposers.
 Some are agents of diseases like cholera, diphtheria,
syphilis, gonorrhea, leprosy, tetanus, TB, typhoid
fever, and meningitis
PROTISTS
 Characteristics:
 Mostly unicellular.
 Possess eukaryotic type of cell.
 Exhibit haplontic cycle.
 Divided into plant-like protists (algae) and
animal-like protists (protozoa).
 Algae
 Aquatic organisms capable of
photosynthesis.
 Part of phytoplanktons.
 Possess chloroplasts and cell wall.
 Store reserve food.
 Usually unicellular, some are colonial and
multicellular.
 Classified according to their color: green,
brown, golden brown, and red algae.
Green Algae

 Mostly marine
 Closely related to the
first plants.
 Possess chlorophylls a
and b.
 Store reserve food
starch inside the
chloroplasts.
 Occur as unicellular,
filamentous, colonial,
or multicellular.
Brown Algae
 Grow along the shoreline.
 Commonly called as seaweeds.
 Possess chlorophylls a and b and
fucoxanthin.
 Store reserve food as laminarin.
 Range from small filamentous
form to large multicellular form.
 Exhibit alternation of generation
life cycle.
 Source of algin, a pectin-like
material that is added to ice
cream and cream products for
smooth consistency.
Golden Brown Algae
A. Diatoms
• the most numerous unicellular
algae in the oceans and in
freshwater habitats.
• Cell wall has an outer layer of
silica.
• Important source of food and
oxygen for heterotrophs.
• Remains of diatoms
accumulated in the ocean
floor, are mined to use as
sound proofing material as
filtering agents.
B. Dinoflagellates
• bounded by protective cellulose
plates.
• Most have flagella.
• Possess chlorophyll a and c
• Extremely numerous in the
oceans.
• Genus Gymnodinium and
Gonyaulax can cause “red tide”.
• They produce neurotoxin that
can cause paralysis of
respiratory muscles.
Red Algae
 Multicellular eukaryotes.
 Live in warm seawater.
 Much smaller and more
delicate than brown algae.
 Some simple filament but
most exist as complex,
branched, expanded ribbon-
like.
 Reserve food as glycogen-like
floridean starch.
 Source of agar.
 Protozoa
 Mostly motile, usually exists as
unicellular, some as colonial or
multicellular.
 Heterotrophic organisms, some are
holozoic, saprotrophic, and
parasitic.
 Usually aquatic, part of
zooplanktons that fed on
phytoplanktons.
 Classified according to their
locomotory organ:
Amoebozoa
 Move and engulf their
prey with pseudopods.
 Pseudopods form when
the cytoplasm streams
forward in a particular
direction.
 Some may cause
disease.
Entamoeba histolytica (cyst &
troph)
Ciliophora

 Move by cilia

 
 Complex cells
 Balantidium
coli is the only
human parasite.
                                                                          
Zooflagellates
 Move by means of
flagella.
 Covered by a pellicle that
is often reinforced by
underlying microtubules.
 Reproduce by transverse
binary fission.
 Mostly involved in
symbiotic relationships
that may cause human
diseases.
Sporozoa
 Non-motile parasites.
 Contain a complex of
organelles used to
invade host cells or
tissues.
 Exhibit complicated
life cycle involving
sexual and asexual
phases, often with two
or more hosts.
FUNGI
 - eukaryotic organisms that include yeasts, molds and
mushrooms

- garbage disposers of nature

- some are saprophytes while others are parasitic

- have no chlorophyll, cell wall contains chitin

- reproduce by budding or formation of spores

TYPES OF FUNGI
(A). Aspergillus fumigatus ( B). Aspergilus flavus (C). Penicillum (D).
Curvularia (E). Scapulariopsis (F). Histoplasma capsulatum
Zygospore
 Non-septate
 Mainly saprotrophs living off
plants and animals remains in the
soil or bakery goods.
 Some are parasites of small
protists.
 During sexual reproduction they
have the dormant stage called
zygospore.
 When zygospore germinates,
sporangia produce windblown
spores.
 Asexual reproduction occurs when
nutrients are plentiful and again
sporangia produce spores.
Sac Fungi
 Septate
 Play an essential ecological
role as decompossers.
 Mostly parasitic on plants.
 During sexual reproduction,
sac-like cells called asci
(ascus) produce spores.
 Asexual reproduction, which
is more common, involves the
production of conidiospores
or condia.
 Includes yeast and molds.
Club Fungi
 Septate
 Some are saprotrophs of
dead trees (mushrooms and
puffballs) others are
parasitic on cereal (rusts
and smuts).
 During sexual
reproduction club-shaped
structures called basidia
produce spores.
 Asexual reproduction is
rare.
Imperfecti Fungi
 Always reproduce
asexually by
conidiospores.
 Imperfect because no
sexual stage has yet been
observed.
 Include some important
fungi, such as penicillium-
source of penicillin,
aspergillus-used in
fermentation of soy beans
to produce soy sauce.
Association with other Organisms

 At least a quarter of all fungal species are

involved in a symbiotic relationship with
an organism of another species.
 Close, long-term interactions can be
parasitic, in which one species benefits
while other is harmed, or mutualistic, in
which both species benfit.
Lichens
 Lichens are given scientific names as
though they were single species; the
name given is that of the fungus.
 The body of a lichen, called a thallus
(thalli), consists mostly of fungi
hyphae.
 Three basic body forms exist among
the lichens: leaf-like faliose, crust-like
crustose, and branching cylindrical
fruticose.
 Lichens are sensitive to alterations in
their environment and to
environmental pollution.
 Aside from monitoring pollution, it
served humans in several other ways.
Mycorrhizae
 Mutualistic relationships
between soil fungi and the
roots of most plants.
 It helps plants acquire
mineral nutrients in poor
soils, particularly soils
deficient in phosphates.
 May grow between the cell
walls (ectomycorrhizae) or
may penetrate only into the
cell wall
(endomycorrhizae).