2.

0 CLASSIFICATION Your Notes ⇩

2.1 Understand that organisms can be classified into groups by the features
they share
• Describe a species as a group of organisms that can reproduce to
produce fertile offspring
• Describe the binomial system of naming species as an internationally
agreed system in which the scientific name of an organism is made up
of two parts showing the genus and species

• There are millions of species of organisms on Earth

• A species is defined as a group of organisms that can reproduce to
produce fertile offspring
• These species can be classified into groups by the features that they
share e.g. all mammals have bodies covered in hair, feed young from
mammary glands and have external ears (pinnas)

The Binomial system

• Organisms were first classified by a Swedish naturalist called Linnaeus
in a way that allows the subdivision of living organisms into smaller and
more specialised groups
• The species in these groups have more and more features in common the
more subdivided they get
• He named organisms in Latin using the binomial system which is an
internationally agreed system where the scientific name of an organism
is made up of two parts starting with:
• the genus (always given a capital letter)
• and followed by the species (starting with a lower case letter)
• When typed, binomial names are always in italics (which indicates they
are Latin) e.g. Homo sapiens

Classification Man

Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Chordata

Class Mammalia

Order Primate

Family Hominidae

Genus Homo
• The sequence of classification is: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order,
Species Homo
Family, Genus, Species
sapiens
Linnaeus’s system of
classification

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 2.0 CLASSIFICATION Your Notes ⇩

2.2 State the main features used to place all organisms into one of the five
kingdoms: Animal, Plant, Fungus, Prokaryote, Protoctist
• All living organisms can be grouped or ‘classified’ using a classification
system that consists of five kingdoms. These five kingdoms are:
o Animals
o Plants
o Fungi
o Protoctists
o Prokaryotes
• The first four kingdoms in this list (the animals, plants, fungi and
protoctists) can actually be grouped together, as they are all eukaryotic
organisms (also known as eukaryotes)

Animals, plants, fungi and protoctists are all eukaryotes

• Eukaryotic organisms can be multicellular or single-celled and are

made up of cells that contain a nucleus with a distinct membrane
• Prokaryotic organisms (also known as prokaryotes) are in a separate
kingdom and are different from eukaryotes as they are always single-
celled and do not contain a nucleus (instead, the nuclear material of
prokaryotic cells is found in the cytoplasm)
o Bacteria are prokaryotic organisms
o Prokaryotic cells are substantially smaller than eukaryotic cells

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 2.0 CLASSIFICATION Your Notes ⇩

Animals
The main features of animals:
• They are multicellular
• Their cells contain a nucleus with a distinct membrane
• Their cells do not have cellulose cell walls
• Their cells do not contain chloroplasts (so they are unable to carry out
photosynthesis)
• They feed on organic substances made by other living things
• They often store carbohydrates as glycogen
zebra
They usually have nervous coordination
They are able to move from place to place

Plants
Features of plants
Section F: Microorganisms and Genetic Engineering
• They are multicellular (bodies made of many cells)
• Their cells contain a nucleus with a distinct membrane
Chapter 21: Using microorganisms
• Their cells have cell walls made out of cellulose
• Their cells contain chloroplasts People use microorganisms in a wide variety of ways.
•
• They feed by photosynthesis
• Yeast is widely used in the production of beer.
• They store carbohydrates as starch or sucrose
• Yeast produces carbon dioxide as a waste product of respiration.
• They do not have nervous coordination
• Bacteria known as Lactobacillus are involved in the production of yoghurt.
• They may have roots, stems and leaves but in some they may be absent.
•
Many useful microorganisms are grown on an industrial scale in fermenters, which provide suitable

Section F: Microorganisms and Genetic Engineering

conditions for them to grow as quickly as possible.
Fungi ribosomes nucleus
(RER)
They are usually multicellular but some are single-celled (e.g. yeast)
Microorganisms mitochondrion
Main features of fungi:
Most microorganisms are so small that they cannot be seen with the naked eye. They include protozoa,
• Multicellular fungi are mainly made
fungi, up of thread-like
bacteria and viruses. Many structures
microorganisms areknown
vital as decomposers, some cause diseases, and some
as hyphae are used in the manufacture of useful chemicals and products. Fungicell wallas food, to make bread, beer
are used
and wine, and to flavour cheeses.
• that contain many nuclei and are organised into a network known as a vacuole
mycelium Bacteria are used for many different things, including making yoghurt. They are also used in a
A yeast cell genetically
modified form to make human proteins such as human insulin.
• Their cells contain a nucleus with a distinct membrane
Viruses can now be used in the process of genetic modification.
• Their cells have cell walls made of chitin (chitinous cell walls)
• Their cells do not contain chloroplasts (so they cannot carry bacteria
out fungi sporangium
containing
photosynthesis) (moulds)
10 µm aerial hypha
• They feed by secreting extracellular digestive enzymes (outside the 100 µm
feeding
mycelium) onto the food (usually decaying organic matter) and then 1 µm
protozoa and algae hypha
absorbing the digested molecules.
mycelium
• This method of feeding is known as saprotrophic nutrition
viruses
• Some fungi are parasitic and feed on living material
(yeast)
• Some fungi store carbohydrates as glycogen The typical structure of a
• They do not have nervous coordination multicellular fungus e.g.
Mucor (bread mould)
Examples of fungi include: moulds, mushrooms, yeasts

10 µm 0.1 µm 0.01 µm 3 µm
Figure 21.1 Different types of microorganisms

@Mr V. Ramloghun Fermentation Revision

and biotechnology
notes 3
Biotechnology is the use of living organisms to make useful chemicals and products or to perform an
industrial task. One of the oldest forms of biotechnology is the use of the fermentation reaction in yeast to
 2.0 CLASSIFICATION Your Notes ⇩

Protoctists
Main features of protoctists:
• The protoctists are a very diverse kingdom of organisms that don’t euglena
really belong in any of the other eukaryotic kingdoms (animals, plants and
fungi)
• They are mainly microscopic and single-celled but some aggregate
(group together) into larger forms, such as colonies or chains of cells
that form filaments
• Their cells contain a nucleus with a distinct membrane
• Some have features making them more like animal cells e.g. Plasmodium paramecium
(the protoctist that causes malaria)
• Some have features, such as cell walls and chloroplasts, making them
more like plant cells e.g. green algae, such as Chlorella
• This means some protoctists photosynthesise and some feed on organic
substances made by other living things
• They do not have nervous coordination
Examples of protoctists include: amoeba, Paramecium, Plasmodium, amoeba
Chlorella

Bacteria
• Bacteria, which have a wide variety of shapes and sizes, all share the
following biological characteristics:
• They are microscopic single-celled organisms
• They have a cell wall (not made of cellulose), cell membrane, cytoplasm
and plasmids
• They lack a nucleus but contain a circular chromosome of DNA
• They lack mitochondria and other membrane-bound organelles found
in eukaryotic cells Cholera bacteria
• Examples of bacteria include:
Lactobacillus (a rod-shaped bacterium used in the production of yoghurt
from milk)
• Pneumococcus (a spherical bacterium that acts as the pathogen causing
pneumonia)
o Most bacteria feed on other living or dead organisms (if they
feed on dead organic matter then they are known as
saprobionts or decomposers)

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 2.0 CLASSIFICATION Your Notes ⇩

State the main features used to place organisms into vertebrates: mammals,
birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish

Vertebrates
• All vertebrates have a backbone. There are 5 classes of vertebrates:

Class Main features Examples

Mammals 1. Fur/ hair on skin Leopards, bats,
2. Have a placenta dolphins, bears,
3. Young feed on milk from mammary lemurs, whales, koala
glands platypus, spiny
4. External ears (pinnae) visible ant-eater, wolves
5. endothermic and man

pinna

hair covering
body
mammary
gland

Class Main features Examples

Birds 1. Skin covered in feathers Penguin, parrot,
2. Have 2 legs and 2 wings instead of eagle
forelimbs
3. Lay eggs with hard shells
4. Have a beak

beak wings

feathers

eagle
scales

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 2.0 CLASSIFICATION Your Notes ⇩

Class Main features Examples

Reptiles 1. They have a tough, dry and scaly Crocodile, snake,
skin. tortoise, turtle,
2. They lay eggs with leathery shells. lizard, chameleon
3. They have lungs for breathing.

dry scaly tortoise

skin

Class Main features Examples

Amphibians 1. They have soft skin with no Salamander,
scales. caecilian, toad,
2. Their eggs are laid in water and frog, newt
have no shells.
caecilian
3. The eggs hatch into tadpoles
which live in water, but adults live
on land.
4. Tadpoles breathe using gills while salamandar
adults have lungs for gas
exchange.
toad
soft, moist skin

A frog

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 2.0 CLASSIFICATION Your Notes ⇩

Class Main features Examples

Fishes 1. Loose wet scales on skin Shark, eel
2. Gills to breathe
3. Lay eggs without shells in water

operculum dorsal fin streamlined body

shark
covering gill covered with scales

eye
caudal fin
pectoral fin anal fin
pelvic fin

State the main features used to place organisms into the main groups of
arthropods: myriapods, insects, arachnids, crustaceans

Invertebrates
• One of the morphological characteristics used to classify invertebrates
is whether they have legs or not
• All invertebrates with jointed legs are part of the phylum Arthropods
which have the following properties
1. They have segmented bodies.
2. They several pairs of jointed legs.
3. They have an external skeleton known as exoskeleton made of
chitin.
• They are classified further into the following classes:

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 2.0 CLASSIFICATION Your Notes ⇩

Myriapods
1. They have a pair of antennae.
2. They have simple eyes.
3. Gas exchange occurs through a tracheal system.
4. They have many pairs of jointed legs in each segment of their body:
A millipede
a. one pair in centipedes
b. two pairs in millipedes

segmented body one pair of

antennae

jointed legs on
each segment
A centipede, showing features of a myriapod

Insects
1. The body is divided into three parts: head, thorax and abdomen.
2. They have three pairs of jointed legs attached to the thorax.
3. They have one or two pairs of wings usually attached to the thorax.
4. They have one pair of antennae attached to the head.
5. They have a pair of compound eyes each one with hundreds of small
units called ocelli. A housefly
6. They breathe through holes in the sides of the thorax and abdomen
called spiracles. The spiracles lead into branched tubes called tracheae.

head compound eye

thorax
antennae

abdomen

jointed legs
A grasshopper, showing features of an insect

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 2.0 CLASSIFICATION Your Notes ⇩

Arachnids
1. Their body is divided into two parts: cephalothorax and abdomen.
2. They have four pairs of jointed legs.
3. they have no antennae.

four pairs of legs

A scorpion

appendages for
feeding not abdomen
antennae

cephalothorax

A spider, showing features of an arachnid

Crustaceans
1. They have more than four pairs of jointed legs.
2. They have two pairs of antennae.
3. They have gills for breathing.
4. The exoskeleton is reinforced with calcium to give protection against
predators.
5. The head and thorax are often joined to form cephalothorax.

A crab
first pair of antennae
second pair
of antennae head and thorax
(cephalothorax)

compound
eye hard
exoskeleton

more than four abdomen

pairs
of jointed legs

A shrimp, showing features of a crustacean

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 2.0 CLASSIFICATION Your Notes ⇩

State the main features used to place organisms into groups within the plant
kingdom, limited to ferns and flowering plants (dicotyledons and
monocotyledons)

Plants
• At least some parts of any plant are green, caused by the presence of
the pigment chlorophyll which absorbs energy from sunlight for the
process of photosynthesis
• The plant kingdom can be divided into flowering and non-flowering
plants.
• Ferns is an example of a non-flowering plant.

Ferns
1. They are green photosynthesising plants.
2. They have conducting tissue (xylem and phloem) forming veins.
3. They have stems called rhizomes.
4. They do not produce flowers.
5. They produce spores that are light and easily carried away by the wind.
6. Spores are released from spore cases (sporangia) that are found on the
lower surfaces of fronds (the term used for the leaves of ferns).

frond

rhizome
spores

Features of a fern, a non-flowering plant

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 2.0 CLASSIFICATION Your Notes ⇩

Flowering plants
• They have true stems, roots and leaves.
• They have water carrying vessels.
• Reproduce sexually by means of flowers and seeds
• Seeds are produced inside the ovary found at the base of the flower
• Can be divided into two groups – monocotyledons and dicotyledons

Wheat plants are monocotyledons

Sunflowers are dicotyledons

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Characteristics of monocots
1. They have seeds with only one cotyledon (seed leaf)
2. They have long, narrow leaf
3. They have parallel veins in the leaves
4. They have vascular bundles arranged randomly in the stem
5. They have roots growing right from the stem (fibrous roots)
6. They have flower parts in multiples of three
Examples include grasses, sugar cane, and maize

Characteristics of dicots
1. They have seeds with two cotyledons (seed leaves)
2. They have broad, flat leaves
3. Their leaves have a main vein or midrib with smaller veins forming a network
4. They have vascular bundles arranged in a ring in the stem
5. They usually have a main root with lateral roots growing out of it
6. They have flower parts in multiples of four or five
Examples include mangoes, bean and peanut

Comparing Monocots and Dicots

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 2.0 CLASSIFICATION Your Notes ⇩

State the main features of viruses, limited to protein coat and genetic
material
Understand that viruses can only replicate in living cells

Features of Viruses
• Viruses are not part of any classification system as they are not
considered living things
• Virus structure is simply genetic material (RNA or DNA) inside a
protein coat
• They do not carry out the seven life processes for themselves, instead
they take over a host cell’s metabolic pathways in order to make
multiple copies of themselves
• Thus, they can only replicate in living cells hence they are known as
obligate parasites.

Structure of a typical virus

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 2.0 CLASSIFICATION Your Notes ⇩

• Construct and use dichotomous keys based on identifiable features

• Classify organisms using the features identified

Constructing & Using a Key

• Keys are used to identify organisms based on a series of questions
about their features
• Dichotomous means ‘branching into two’ and it leads the user through to
the name of the
organism by giving two descriptions at a time and asking them to choose
• Each choice leads the user onto another two descriptions
• In order to successfully navigate a key, you need to pick a single
organism to start with and follow the statements from the beginning
until you find the name
• You then pick another organism and start at the beginning of the key
again, repeating until all organisms are named

Example of a dichotomous key #1

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 2.0 CLASSIFICATION Your Notes ⇩

@Mr V. Ramloghun Revision notes 15