kingdoms of life

• Key groups of living organisms


  • Animals
  • Plants
  • Fungi
  • Protists
  • Bacteria
  • Viruses
• Animals


  • Multicellular
  • Heterotrophs
  • Reproduce sexually
• Plants


  • Multicellular
  • Autotrophs (get energy from sun via photosynthesis)
• Fungi


  • Some are multicellular, some are unicellular
  • Heterotrophs (get energy from other organisms)
  • Use saprotrophic nutrition (secrete digestive enzymes, absorb nutrients)
  • Some have a mycelium body made of hyphae
  • Some are pathogens that can cause disease
• Protists


  • Mostly unicellular
  • Some are like plant cells with chloroplasts and can photosynthesize
  • Some are like animal cells and consume other organisms
  • Some are pathogens that can cause disease
• Bacteria


  • Unicellular
  • Some can photosynthesize but don't have chloroplasts
  • Feed off living or dead organisms
  • Estimated to have more species than all other kingdoms combined
  • Some are pathogens that can cause disease, but most are harmless or helpful
• Viruses


  • Extremely small particles, not cells
  • Have a protein coat surrounding genetic material (DNA or RNA)
  • Can only reproduce by infecting and using other living cells
  • Always act as pathogens, causing harm to host organisms
• Eukaryotes (animals, plants, fungi, protists) have DNA in chromosomes and a nucleus, unlike prokaryotic bacteria
• Viruses are not considered living organisms, as they cannot reproduce on their own
• Viruses are 10-100 times smaller than prokaryotic bacterial cells