OpenStax-CNX module: m43221 1
4.1.2 Five kingdom system*
Daniel Williamson
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1 Five kingdom system This is the most common way of grouping living things based on simple distinctive characteristics. Clas- si cation systems are always changing as new information is made available. Modern technologies such as electron microscopy make it possible to observe microscopic organisms in greater detail. The current system was developed by Robert H. Whittaker in 1969 and was built on the work of previous biologists such as Carolus Linnaeus. The highest grouping is called a kingdom. Five kingdoms: http://www.tutorvista.com/content/biology/biology-iii/modern-classi cation / ve-kingdom-classi cation.php 1 Bug scope: Images of microscopic organisms http://bugscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/ 2 Neok12: Animals and wildlife videos http://www.neok12.com/Animals-Wildlife.htm 3 Encyclopedia of life: Images and explanations of terms http://eol.org/index 4 Living things can be classi ed into ve major kingdoms:
*Version 1.1: Feb 17, 2012 2:03 pm -0600 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 1http://www.tutorvista.com/content/biology/biology-iii/modern-classi cation/ ve-kingdom-classi cation.php 2http://bugscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/ 3http://www.neok12.com/Animals-Wildlife.htm 4http://eol.org/index
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Figure 1
Kingdom Monera (Bacteria) Kingdom Protista Kingdom Fungi Kingdom Plantae Kingdom Animalia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uJ8QeFRvJA&feature=related 5 A video showing a brief summary of the ve kingdoms
5http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uJ8QeFRvJA&feature=related
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1.1 Distinctive Features of the ve kingdoms
1.1.1 Kingdom Monera
• Prokaryotic, unicellular. • No nuclear membrane or membrane bound organelles such as chloroplasts, Golgi complex, mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum.
• Have a cell wall made without cellulose. • Reproduction is mainly asexual by binary ssion. • Important examples: Archaea, cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), bacteria
Interesting fact: Bacteria are found everywhere and are the most numerous organisms on Earth. In a single gram of soil, there are about 40 million bacterial cells. The human body also contains 10 times as many bacterial cells as human cells!!
1.1.2 Kingdom Protista
• Eukaryotic, can be unicellular or simple multicellular. • Reproduction can be asexual or sexual. • Important examples: Plasmodium (causes malaria), amoeba, euglena
1.1.3 Kingdom Fungi
• Eukaryotic, multicellular (some unicellular like yeasts). • Have a cell wall made of chitin. • Non-motile with long extensions called hyphae. • Nutrition is heterotrophic: important as decomposers (saprophytes), can be parasitic. • Store food as glycogen
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• Reproduction is by spore formation (both asexual and sexual). • Important examples: Mushrooms, Penicillium (a fungus which was used to make penicillin), bread mould http://blog.ted.com/2008/05/06/paul_stamets/ 6 A TED video on the many uses of Fungi
1.1.4 Kingdom Plantae
• Eukaryotic, multicellular. • Distinct cell wall made of cellulose. • Have plastids and photosynthetic pigments such as chlorophyll. • Non-motile. • Nutrition is autotrophic (make their own food by photosynthesis). • Sexual reproduction. • Important examples: Green algae, mosses, ferns, conifers, owering plants.
1.1.5 Kingdom Animalia
• Eukaryotic and multicellular but have no cell wall or photosynthetic pigments • Mostly motile • Heterotrophic nutrition. • Sexual or vegetative (asexual) reproduction • Important examples: Porifera (sponges), Mammalia, Insects
Additional resource:
• Tree of life project: collaborative eort of biologists and nature enthusiasts from around the world providing information about biodiversity, the characteristics of dierent groups of organisms, and their evolutionary history ( phylogeny 7 ). Link: http://tolweb.org/tree/phylogeny.html 8 • ARKive project: For pictures and information on a wide range of life forms • http://bugscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/ 9 : For high magni cation pictures of insects using a scanning electron microscope. • http://www.neok12.com/Microorganisms.htm 10 : For interactive videos on microorganisms.
Projects and assignments: 1. Research one bene cial and one harmful application of one member from each kingdom, with examples from their use in South Africa. Students can be grouped into smaller groups and each one is given one kingdom to research. (Use www.arkive.org 11 as a research tool for your favourite animal or plant or http://bugscope.becnkman.uiuc.edu/ 12 for nice pictures of insects). Results can be presented in the form of a poster. 2. Go to your nearest supermarket or garden and nd one representative organism for each kingdom. Present this information by drawing diagrams.
6http://blog.ted.com/2008/05/06/paul_stamets/ 7http://tolweb.org/tree/learn/concepts/whatisphylogeny.html 8http://tolweb.org/tree/phylogeny.html 9http://bugscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/ 10http://www.neok12.com/Microorganisms.htm 11http://www.arkive.org/ 12http://bugscope.becnkman.uiuc.edu/
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