The 6 Kingdoms

Most biologists use the following six kingdoms to classify organisms:

• Kingdom Archaebacteria• Kingdom Eubacteria• Kingdom Protista• Kingdom Fungi• Kingdom Plantae• Kingdom Animalia

Formerly Kingdom Monera

Characteristics of Kingdoms Archaebacteria and Eubacteria

• unicellular

• prokaryote (lack a nuclear membrane)

• autotrophic or heterotrophic

• reproduce asexually

• examples are bacteria and cyanobacteria

Bacteria come in 3 basic shapes which may be arranged in groups

Kingdom Archaebacteria

• “Archae” means ancient (very old)

• Archaebacteria are separated from the other bacteria because they can survive where most other organisms cannot.

• They live under extreme conditions of temperature, salinity, acidity, and in anaerobic environments

Archaebacteria differ from Eubacteria

• Archaebacteria have no peptidoglycan in their cell walls.

• The cell wall is made up of glycoproteins and polysaccharides.

• The cell wall envelopes have a high resistance to antibiotics and lytic agents due to difference in cell wall composition.

• They have a very different lipid bi-layer making up the cell membranes.

• A few are flagellated and the flagella structure is different from the flagella of other bacteria.

• The archaebacteria are non-pathogenic bacteria that live in and around other organisms. However, they do not cause any infections or diseases.

Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park

Three types of Archaebacteria

• 1. Methanogens

• Metanogens are able to reduce carbon dioxide into methane They are obligately anaerobic and can die if exposed to oxygen.

• They produce marsh gas that can be observed as bubbles in stagnant water.

• They are also present in the gut of cattle and termites, since there is no oxygen there.

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Three types continued…

• 2. Halophiles

• Halophiles are bacteria that can survive in 10 times the concentration of salt present in sea. You can find halophilic archaebacteria in Great Salt Lake in Utah and the Dead Sea in Middle East.

3. Thermoacidophiles

• The thermoacidophiles are organisms that can survive in extremely high temperatures and low pH. They can survive in 100° Celsius with a pH of 2. Most of these organisms are anaerobic in nature.

Eubacteria are the smallest living things

• They are often called “germs” or “microbes”.• Some can be killed by antibiotics.• Some are decomposers helping to recycle

materials in nature or us to digest our food.• Some help us make food such as yogurt,

cheese, vinegar.• Most are harmless. Some cause disease.

Bacteria Pictures

Diseases caused by Eubacteria

• Botulism, tetanus, gangrene• Strep throat, scarlet fever, pneumonia• Boils, food poisoning, skin infections• Pollution of water sources and pools• Gastroenteritis, dysentery• Cholera, syphilis, gonorrhoea• Lime Disease• MRSA and other antibiotic resistant bacteria