Biological Classification Test - 7

Algae may be unicellular as well as multicellular, primitive algae are unicellular and red and green algae are multicellular having length of several meter.

Methanogens bacteria are present in the guts of ruminant animals such as cows and buffaloes. The characteristic smell of cow dungs is due to methane gas produced by this bacteria.

The peculiar odour found in marshy areas and cow sheds is of methane gas produced by methanogens bacteria that belongs to class Archeobacteria.

Unicellular Eukaryotes were included into kingdom Protista while unicellular Prokaryotes were included in kingdom Monera.

Protista includes all unicellular prokaryotic organisms that includes both plants and animals so, Protista is common to unicellular plants and animals.

Sporozoans include diverse organisms that have an infectious spore-like stage in their life cycle.

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 which may grow and spread over several feet. During unfavourable conditions, the plasmodium differentiates and forms fruiting bodies bearing spores at their tips.

The classification did not differentiate between the heterotrophic group – fungi, and the autotrophic green plants, though they also showed a characteristic difference in their walls composition – the fungi had chitin in their walls while the green plants had a cellulosic cell wall. When such characteristics were considered, the fungi were placed in a separate kingdom – Kingdom Fungi.

Bacteria reproduce mainly by fission. 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 the other.

Mycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus or fungus-like bacterial colony, consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. The mass of hyphae is sometimes called shiro, especially within the fairy ring fungi.