BIOLOGICAL
CLASSIFICATION
R.Kathyayani
M.Tech Biopharmaceutical Technology
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION:
• Scientific procedure of arranging organisms into groups based on their similarities and dissimilarities
and placing them in the groups in the hierarchical categories.
• Taxonomy.
Three Principle system of classification :
• Artificial system of classification.
i. Theoprastus – Plants – Trees , Shrubs , Under shrubs and Herbs.
ii. Aristotle – Animals – Enaima and Anaima.
• Natural or Phenetic system of classification.
• Phylogenetic system of classification ( Cladogram )
i. Monophyletic
ii. Polyphyletic
iii. Paraphyletic
KINGDOM MONERA
Archaebacteria and Eubacteria
Monera – Coined by Ernst Haeckel in 1866.
Monera – Most primitive group of organism.
Also contains Mycoplasma , Actinomycetes,
Cyanobacteria , Rickettsia.
Unicellular Prokaryotic organisms contains
cell wall.
Approx., 4000 sp of bacteria with
cosmopolitan occurrence.
Average weight of human ~ 70 kg has
about ~ 2.5 kg of bacteria in the form of
micro flora to supplement proper digestion
and other metabolic function.
Archaebacteria
Most primitive prokaryotes
Cell wall – made of non – cellulosic polysaccharide and proteins.
Can live in extreme conditions and are known as living fossils.
Characters Methanogens Halophiles Thermoacidophiles
Chemosynthetic ( Oxidise
1. Nutrition Autotrophic Chemoheterotrophs
sulphur )
2. Respiration Obligate anaerobes Aerobes Aerobes or anaerobes
Occurs in salt lakes , salt Grow in high temperature
Live in digestive tracts of
marshes etc., and high acidic conditions (
3. Habitat grazing animals and rotten
>3M NaCl concentration pH 1 to 4 )
sewage ( Sludge digester )
required Found in hot sulphur springs.
Methanococcus , Thermoplasma ,
4. Examples Halococcus , Halobacterium.
Merhanobacterium Thermoproteus.
GRAM’s STAINING
STRUCTURE OF BACTERIAL CELLS
Asexual Reproduction BACTERIAL REPRODUCTION Sexual Reproduction
(Conjugation,Transformation,Transduction)
CONJUGATION
BACTERIAL TRANSFORMATION
Griffith’s Transformation Experiment
Transformation Experiment
Streptococcus pneumoniae
Smooth strain – Encapsulated strain - Virulent
Rough strain –Non capsulated strain - Avirulent.
Transduction
Generalised transduction – Ability of bacteriophage to carry any region of bacterial DNA.
Specialised transduction – Ability of bacteriophage to carry only specific region of bacterial DNA.
Mycoplasma :
About 0.1 micrometer in diameter.
Discovered by Nocard and Roux in 1898.
Cell wall less , non – motile.
Commonly called as jokers of living world or pleuro pneumonia like
organism ( PPLO ).
Insensitive to antibiotics like Penicillin which mainly affect the synthesis
of cell wall.
Can survive without oxygen.
Live as saprotrophs or parasites in humans , plants and animals.
Actinomycetes :
Gram positive bacteria.
Anaerobic, mycelial structure – Ray fungi.
Grow on fresh substrate and more slowly than bacteria and fungi.
During composting they degrade natural substance like cellulose or
chitin.
A number of antibiotics are produced by Streptomyces ( Streptomycin ,
Chloromphenicol )
Saprophytes.
Responsible for allergic symptoms in respiratory tract. Ex : Extrinsic
Allergic Alveolitis.
Cyanobacteria / Blue Green Algae :
Primitive Photosynthetic prokaryotes with chlorophyll a.
Unicellular , colonial or filamentous , fresh water , marine or terrestrial algae.
Colonies are surrounded by gelatinous sheath with a great water absorbing and retaining capacity.
Produce blooms in polluted water bodies.
Some BGA like Nostoc , Anabena can fix atmospheric nitrogen in specialised cells – Heterocyst.
Kingdom Protista
Unicellular Eukaryotic organism.
Phylogenetically, Kingdom Protista acts as connecting link between prokaryotic kingdom
Monera and complex multicellular kingdoms Fungi , Plantae and Animalia.
Common characteristics:
Mainly aquatic.
Membrane bound organelles present.
Reproduce both sexually and asexually.
Autotrophic or Heterotrophic ( Parasitic )
Fungal like protist or consumer decomposer protist :
Achlorophyllous organism – Heterotrophic condition.
Damp and shady places.
Cell wall is present only in spores and is formed of fungal
cellulose.
Reproduction is both asexual and sexual.
During favourable condition they form an aggregation
called plasmodium.
Under unfavourable conditions , the plasmodium
differentiates and forms fruiting bodies bearing spores at
their tips.
The spores are extremely resistant and survive for many
years even in very adverse conditions.
Air current helps in the dispersal of spores.
The slime moulds are classified into :
Acrasiomycota ( cellular slime moulds ) –
Dictyostelium.
Myxomycota (the plasmodial or acellular slime
moulds ) – Physarum.
Kingdom Fungi :
Eukaryotic , loosely arranged multicellular tissue.
Heterotrophic – Saprophytes or parasites or symbionts.
Cell wall – nitrogen containing polysaccharide- chitin.
Reserved food material – Glycogen or oil.
Fungal body – made up of hyphae – aggregate to form
mycelia.
Hyphae – septate or aspetate.
Multinucleate coenocytic hyphae.
Reproduction – Sexual or asexual or vegetative body.
Sexual Reproduction
Asexual Reproduction in fungi
Classification of fungi
Trichoderma
Lichens Mycorrhiza
Symbiotic
Relationship:
• Lichens – Fungal
association with algae
or Cyanobacteria.
• Mycorrhiza – Higher
plants like
gymnosperms and
mycorrhizal associated
with each other.
Virus and Viroids
• Louis Pasteur – Name virus coined by him.
• Dimitri Ivanowsky - Recognised certain microbes as casual
organism of tobacco plant.
• M.W.Beijerinek – called virus as ‘contagium vivum fluidum’
(infectious living organism).
• W.M.Stanely – purified and crystallised Tobacco mosaic virus.
• Alick Isaacs and Jean Lindemann – Discovered interferon.
• T.O Diener – Discovered viriods.
• Stanley Prusiner – suggested the term ‘Prion’ for infections
proteinaceous particles.
Characteristics of viruses :
Connecting link between living and non – living world.
Acellular (non – cellular), hence lack most of the cellular
structures like cytoplasm, ribosomes etc.,
Nucleic acid – Either DNA or or RNA enclosed in a protein coat.
Obligate parasites.
Host specific – particular type affects either plants or animals.
Plant viruses – single stranded RNA.
Animal viruses – either single or double stranded RNA or double
stranded DNA.
• Core – contains Nucleic acid ( either DNA or RNA.
• Capsid – a protective coat of protein surrounding the core.
• Nucleocapsid – the combined formed by the core and capsid.
• Envelope – A loose membranous covering that occurs in some
animal viruses like HIV and Influenza virus.
• Capsomeres – capsids are built up of identical repeating
subunits called capsomeres.
Types of virus Host cell
1. Animal viruses Animal cells
(Zoophagineae)
2. Plant viruses Plant cell
(Phytophaginae)
3.Bacteriophages Bacterial cell
4. Cyanophages Cyanobacteria
5. Phycophages Algae
6. Mycophages Fungal cell
7.Mycoplasma viruses Mycoplasma.
Interferons : Viroids : Prions :
• Isaacs and Lindemann – • Found by T.O Diener in 1971. • Proteinaceous infectious
found interferons – anti viral • Small single stranded circular ‘naked particles.
glycoprotein- inhibits RNA’ molecules without capsid. • Causes number of fatal
multiplication- interferons are • RNA of the viroid of low molecular degenerative disorders of central
non – specific against weight. nervous system of humans and
particular virus and are active • First viroid disease reported was other animals.
against many different types potato spindle tuber diseases. • Carleton Gajdusek – awarded
of viruses. • Other known diseases are citrus Nobel Prize in 1976 – for the
• Alpha interferons – produced exocortis disease and description of prion disease kuru
by leukocytes. chrysanthemum stunt disease. ( Laughing death ) in a tribe of
• Beta interferons – produced • Viroids infects only plants and are Papua , New Guinea.
by fibroblasts. transmitted only through mechanical • Stanley Prusiner did most of the
• Gamma interferons – means or by way of ovules and work on prions , was awarded
produced by lymphocytes. pollens. Nobel Prize in 1997.
