CELL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS

Robert Hooke in 1665, coined the term cell.

A white blood cell (WBC) in human blood is an example of a single cell which can change its

shape.
Bacterial cell also has a cell wall.
In egg white material is albumin which solidifies on boiling. The yellow part is yolk. It is part of the

single cell.
Valoniaventricosa, a species of algae with a diameter that ranges typically from 1 to 4 centimetres

(0.39 to 1.57 in) is among the largest unicellular species

cell membrane, also called the plasma membrane.
The plasma membrane is porous and allows the movement of substances or materials both inward

and outward.
Cytoplasm: It is the jelly-like substance present between the cell membrane and the nucleus.
Various other components, or organelles, of cells are present in the cytoplasm. These are

mitochondria, golgi bodies, ribosomes, etc.

Nucleus: It is an important component of the living cell. It is generally spherical and located in the
centre of the cell. It can be stained and seen easily with the help of a microscope. Nucleus is
separated from the cytoplasm by a membrane called the nuclear membrane. This membrane is
also porous and allows the movement of materials between the cytoplasm and the inside of the
nucleus. With a microscope of higher magnification, we can see a smaller spherical body in the
nucleus. It is called the nucleolus. In addition, nucleus contains thread-like structures called
chromosomes. These carry genes and help in inheritance or transfer of characters from the

parents to the offspring. The chromosomes can be seen only when the cell divides.
Gene is a unit of inheritance in living organisms. It controls the transfer of a hereditary
characteristic from parents to offspring. This means that your parents pass some of their

characteristics on to you.
Nucleus, in addition to its role in inheritance, acts as control centre of the activities of the cell.
The entire content of a livinhg cell is known as protoplasm. It includes the cytoplasm and the

nucleus. Protoplasm is called the living substance of the cell.

The nucleus of the bacterial cell is not well organised like the cells of multicellular organisms. There
is no nuclear membrane. The cells having nuclear material without nuclear membrane are
termed prokaryotic cells. The organisms with these kinds of cells are called prokaryotes (pro :

primitive; karyon: nucleus). Examples are bacteria and blue green algae.
The cells, like onion cells and cheek cells having well organised nucleus with a nuclear membrane
are designated as eukaryotic cells.All organisms other than bacteria and blue green algae are

called eukaryotes. (eu: true; karyon: nucleus).

While observing the onion cells under the microscope, did you notice any blank-looking structures
in the cytoplasm? It is called vacuole. It could be single and big as in an onion cell. Cheek cells
have smaller vacuoles. Large vacuoles are common in plant cells. Vacuoles in animal cells are

much smaller.
You might have noticed several small coloured bodies in the cytoplasm of the cells of Tradescantia
leaf. They are scattered in the cytoplasm of the leaf cells. These are called plastids. They are of
different colours. Some of them contain green pigment called chlorophyll. Green coloured plastids

are called chloroplasts. They provide green colour to the leaves. You may recall that chlorophyll in
the chloroplasts of leaves, is essential for photosynthesis.
Comparison of Plant and Animal Cells

The fundamental unit of life

Robert hooke coined the term cell. Cells were first discovered by Robert Hooke in 1665. He

observed the cells in a cork slice with the help of a primitive microscope.
Leeuwenhoek (1674), with the improved microscope, discovered the free living cells in pond

water for the first time.

It was Robert Brown in 1831 who discovered the nucleus in the cell.
The cell theory, that all the plants and animals are composed of cells and that the cell is the basic

unit of life, was presented by two biologists, Schleiden (1838) and Schwann (1839).
With the discovery of the electron microscope in 1940, it was possible to observe and

understand the complex structure of the cell and its various organelles.
If we study a cell under a microscope, we would come across three features in almost every cell;
plasma membrane, nucleus and cytoplasm.

Plasma membrane or cell membrane

This is the outermost covering of the cell that separates the contents of the cell from its external
environment. It is a selectively permeable membrane.

Some substances like carbon dioxide or oxygen can move across the cell membrane by a process
called

diffusion(spontaneous

movement

of

substance

from

region

of

high

concentration to a region where its concentration is low)

Thus, diffusion plays an important role in gaseous exchange between the cells as well as the cell

and its external environment.

Water also obeys the law of diffusion. The movement of water molecules through such a selectively
permeable membrane is called osmosis. The movement of water across the plasma membrane is
also affected by the amount of substance dissolved in water.
Thus, osmosis is the passage of water from a region of high water concentration through
a semi-permeable membrane to a region of low water concentration. Thus, osmosis is a

special case of diffusion through a selectively permeable membrane.

Unicellular freshwater organisms and most plant cells tend to gain water through osmosis.

Absorption of water by plant roots is also an example of osmosis.

Thus, diffusion is important in exhange of gases and water in the life of a cell. In additions to this,
the cell also obtains nutrition from its environment. Different molecules move in and out of the cell

through a type of transport requiring use of energy in the form of ATP.

The plasma membrane is flexible and is made up of organic molecules called lipids and proteins.
However, we can observe the structure of the plasma membrane only through an electron

microscope.
The flexibility of the cell membrane also enables the cell to engulf in food and other material from
its external environment. Such processes are known as endocytosis(endointernal; cytoof a
cell). Amoeba acquires its food through such processes.

Cell wall

Plant cells, in addition to the plasma membrane, have another rigid outer covering called the cell

wall. The cell wall lies outside the plasma membrane.

The plant cell wall is mainly composed of cellulose. Cellulose is a complex substance and provides
structural strength to plants. When a living plant cell loses water through osmosis there is
shrinkage or contraction of the contents of the cell away from the cell wall. This phenomenon is

known as plasmolysis(plasma fluid; lysis disintegration, decomposition).

Only living cells, and not dead cells, are able to absorb water by osmosis. Cell walls permit the
cells of plants, fungi and bacteria to withstand very dilute (hypotonichaving a lower osmotic
pressure than a particular fluid. Antonym: hypertonic) external media without bursting. In such
media the cells tend to take up water by osmosis. The cell swells, building up pressure against the
cell wall. The wall exerts an equal pressure against the swollen cell. Because of their walls, such
cells can withstand much greater changes in the surrounding medium than animal cells.

Nucleus

The nucleus has a double layered covering called nuclear membrane. The nuclear membrane
has pores which allow the transfer of material from inside the nucleus to its outside, that is, to the
cytoplasm

The nucleus contains chromosomes, which are visible as rod-shaped structures only when the
cell is about to divide. Chromosomes contain information for inheritance of features from parents
to next generation in the form of DNA (deoxyribo nucleic acid) molecules. Chromosomes are
composed ofDNA and Protein. DNA molecules contain the information necessary for constructing
and organising cells. Functional segments of dna are called genes. In a cell which is not dividing,
this dna is present as part of chromatin material. Chromatin material is visible as entangled mass
of thread like structures. Whenever the cell is about to divide, the chromatin material gets

organised into chromosomes.

The nucleus plays a central role in cellular reproduction, the process by which a single cell
divides and forms two new cells. It also plays a crucial part, along with the environment, in
determining the way the cell will develop and what form it will exhibit at maturity, by directing

the chemical activities of the cell

In some organisms like bacteria, the nuclear region of the cell may be poorly defined due to the
absence of a nuclear membrane. Such an undefined nuclear region containing only nucleic
acids is called a nucleoid. Such organisms, whose cells lack a nuclear membrane, are called
prokaryotes (pro = primitive or primary; karyote karyon = nucleus). Organisms with cells

having a nuclear membrane are called eukaryotes.

Prokaryotic cells also lack most of the other cytoplasmic organelles present in eukaryotic
cells. Many of the functions of such organelles are also performed by poorly organised parts of the
cytoplasm. The chlorophyll in photosynthetic prokaryotic bacteria is associated with
membranous vesicles (bag like structures) but not with plastids as in eukaryotic cells.

Cytoplasm

When we look at the temporary mounts of onion peel as well as human cheek cells, we can see a
large region of each cell enclosed by the cell membrane. This region takes up very little stain. It is
called the cytoplasm. The cytoplasm is the fluid content inside the plasma membrane. It also
contains many specialised cell organelles. Each of these organelles performs a specific function for

the cell.
Cell organelles are enclosed by membranes. In prokaryotes, beside the absence of a defined
nuclear region, the membrane-bound cell organelles are also absent. On the other hand,
the eukaryotic cells have nuclear membrane as well as membrane-enclosed organelles

The significance of membranes can be illustrated with the example of viruses. Viruses lack any
membranes and hence do not show characteristics of life until they enter a living body and
use its cell machinery to multiply.

Cell organelles

Every cell has a membrane around it to keep its own contents separate from the external
environment. Large and complex cells, including cells from multicellular organisms, need a lot of
chemical activities to support their complicated structure and function. To keep these activities of
different kinds separate from each other, these cells use membrane-bound little structures (or
organelles) within themselves. This is one of the features of the eukaryotic cells that distinguish

them from prokaryotic cells. Some of these organelles are visible only with an electron microscope.
Some important examples of cell organelles which we will discuss now are: endoplasmic reticulum,
golgi apparatus, lysosomes, mitochondria, plastids and vacuoles. They are important because they
carry out some very crucial functions in cells.

Endoplasmic reticulum(er)

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a large network of membrane-bound tubes and sheets. It

looks like long tubules or round or long bags (vesicles).

The ER membrane is similar in structure to the plasma membrane.
There are two types of ER rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) and smooth endoplasmic reticulum

(SER).
RER looks rough under a microscope because it has particles called ribosomesattached to its
surface. The ribosomes, which are present in all active cells, are the sites of protein
manufacture. The manufactured proteins are then sent to various places in the cell depending on
need, using the ER.

The SER helps in the manufacture of fat molecules, or lipids, important for cell function.
Some of these proteins and lipids help in building the cell membrane. This process is known as

membrane biogenesis.
Some other proteins and lipids function as enzymes and hormones.
Although the ER varies greatly in appearance in different cells, it always forms a network system.
Thus, one function of the ER is to serve as channels for the transport of materials (especially

proteins) between various regions of the cytoplasm or between the cytoplasm and the nucleus.
The ER also functions as a cytoplasmic framework providing a surface for some of the biochemical

activities of the cell.

In the liver cells of the group of animals called vertebrates, SER plays a crucial role in
detoxifying many poisons and drugs.

Golgi apparatus

The golgi apparatusconsists of a system of membrane-bound vesicles arranged approximately

parallel to each other in stacks called cisterns.

These membranes often have connections with the membranes of ER and therefore constitute

another portion of a complex cellular membrane system

The material synthesised near the ER is packaged and dispatched to various targets

inside and outside the cell through the golgi apparatus.

Its functions include the storage, modification and packaging of products in vesicles.
In some cases, complex sugars may be made from simple sugars in the golgi apparatus.
The golgi apparatus is also involved in the formation of lysosomes

Lysosomes

Lysosomes are a kind of waste disposal system of the cell.

Lysosomes help to keep the cell clean by digesting any foreign material as well as worn-out cell

organelles.
Foreign materials entering the cell, such as bacteria or food, as well as old organelles end up in the
lysosomes, which break them up into small pieces. Lysosomes are able to do this because they

contain powerful digestive enzymes capable of breaking down all organic material.
During the disturbance in cellular metabolism, for example, when the cell gets damaged, lysosomes
may burst and the enzymes digest their own cell. Therefore, lysosomes are also known as the

suicide bags of a cell.

Structurally, lysosomes are membrane-bound sacs filled with digestive enzymes. These
enzymes are made by RER.

Mitochondria

Mitochondria are known as the powerhouses of the cell.

The energy required for various chemical activities needed for life is released by mitochondria in

the form of ATP (Adenosine Triphopshate) molecules.

ATP is known as the energy currency of the cell.
The body uses energy stored in ATP for making new chemical compounds and for mechanical
work.

Mitochondria have two membrane coverings instead of just one. The outer membrane is very
porous while the inner membrane is deeply folded. These folds create a large surface area for ATP-

generating chemical reactions.

Mitochondria are strange organelles in the sense that they have their own DNA and ribosomes.
Therefore, mitochondria are able to make some of their own proteins.

Plastids

Plastids are present only in plant cells. There are two types of plastids chromoplasts

(coloured plastids) and leucoplasts (white or colourless plastids).

Plastids containing the pigment chlorophyll are known as chloroplasts.
Chloroplasts are important for photosynthesis in plants.
Chloroplasts also contain various yellow or orange pigments in addition to chlorophyll.
Leucoplasts are primarily organelles in which materials such as starch, oils and protein

granules are stored.

The internal organisation of the plastids consists of numerous membrane layers embedded in a

material called the stroma.

Plastids are similar to mitochondria in external structure. Like the mitochondria, plastids also have
their own dna and ribosomes.

Vacuoles

Vacuoles are storage sacs for solid or liquid contents.

Vacuoles are small sized in animal cells while plant cells have very large vacuoles.
The central vacuole of some plant cells may occupy 50-90% of the cell volume.
In plant cells vacuoles are full of cell sap and provide turgidity and rigidity to the cell.
Many substances of importance in the life of the plant cell are stored in vacuoles. These include

amino acids, sugars, various organic acids and some proteins.

In single-celled organisms like amoeba, the food vacuole contains the food items that the amoeba

has consumed.
In some unicellular organisms, specialised vacuoles also play important roles in expelling excess

water and some wastes from the cell

1. Can you name the two organelles we have studied that contain their own genetic material?
2. Why are lysosomes known as suicide bags?
3. Where are proteins synthesised inside the cell?
Each cell thus acquires its structure and ability to function because of the organisation of its
membrane and organelles in specific ways. The cell thus has a basic structural organisation. This
helps the cells to perform functions like respiration, obtaining nutrition, and clearing of waste
material, or forming new proteins. Thus, the cell is the fundamental structural unit of

livingorganisms. It is also the basic functional unit of life.

Cells are enclosed by a plasma membrane composed of lipids and proteins.
The presence of the cell wall enables the cells of plants, fungi and bacteria to exist in hypotonic
media without bursting. Hypotonic: biology; having a lower osmotic pressure than a particular

fluid
The ER functions both as a passage way for intracellular transport and as a manufacturing surface.
The golgi apparatus consists of stacks of membrane-bound vesicles that function in the storage,
modification and packaging of substances manufactured in the cell.

Most plant cells have large membranous organelles called plastids, which are of two types

chromoplasts and leucoplasts.

Chromoplasts that contain chlorophyll are called chloroplasts and they perform photosynthesis.
The primary function of leucoplasts is storage
Most mature plant cells have a large central vacuole that helps to maintain the turgidity of the cell

and stores important substances including wastes

Prokaryotic cells have no membrane-bound organelles, their chromosomes are composed of only
nucleic acid, and they have only very small ribosomes as organelles.
1. What would happen to the life of a cell if there was no golgi apparatus?
2. Where do the lipids and proteins constituting the cell membrane get synthesised?
3. What is osmosis?

Diversity InLivingorganisms

Classification of life forms will be closely related to their evolution. What is evolution? Most life
forms that we see today have arisen by an accumulation of changes in body design that allow the
organism possessing them to survive better. Charles Darwinfirst described this idea of evolution

in 1859 in his book, The Origin Of Species

Rough estimates state that there are about ten million species on the planet, although we actually
know only one or two millions of them. The warm and humid tropical regions of the earth, between
the tropic of cancer and the tropic of capricorn, are rich in diversity of plant and animal life. This is
called the region of megadiversity. Of the biodiversity of the planet, more than half is
concentrated in a few countries
1. Brazil,
2. Colombia,
3. Ecuador,
4. Peru,
5. Mexico,
6. Zaire,
7. Madagascar,
8. Australia,
9. China,
10. India,
11. Indonesia and
12. Malaysia

The Hierarchy of Classification Groups

Biologists, such as Ernst Haeckel (1894), Robert Whittaker (1959) and Carl Woese (1977)
have tried to classify all living organisms into broad categories, called kingdoms.
The classification Whittaker proposed has five kingdoms:
1. Monera,
2. Protista,
3. Fungi,
4. Plantae and
5. Animalia,

and is widely used.

These groups are formed on the basis of their cell structure, mode and source of nutrition and
body

organisation.

The

modification

Woese

introduced

by

dividing

the

monera

into

archaebacteria(or archaea) and eubacteria (or bacteria) is also in use.

Further classification is done by naming the sub-groups at various levels as given in the following
scheme: KPC OF GS
Kingdom,
Phylum (For Animals) / Division (For Plants),
Class,
Order,
Family,
Genus,
Species

Monera

These organisms
do not have a defined nucleus or organelles, nor
do any of them show multi-cellular body designs.

OR

They are unicellular prokaryotes

On the other hand, they show diversity based on many other characteristics.
Some of them have cell walls while some do not.
Of course, having or not having a cell wall has very different effects on body design here from

having or not having a cell wall in multicellular organisms.

The mode of nutrition of organisms in this group can be either by synthesising their own food

(autotrophic) or getting it from the environment (heterotrophic).

This group includes bacteria, blue-green algae or cyanobacteria, and mycoplasma.

Protista

This group includes many kinds of unicellular eukaryotic organisms.

Some of these organisms use appendages, such as hair-like cilia or whip-like flagella for

moving around.
Their mode of nutrition can be autotrophic or heterotrophic.
Examples are unicellular algae, diatomsandprotozoans

Fungi

These are heterotrophic eukaryotic organisms.

They use decaying organic material as food and are therefore called saprophytes.
Many of them have the capacity to become multicellularorganisms at certain stages in their

lives.
They have cell-walls made of a tough complex sugar called chitin
Some fungal species live in permanent mutually dependent relationships with bluegreen
algae (or cyanobacteria). Such relationships are called symbiotic. These symbiobic life forms
are called lichens.

Fungi + Bluegreen algae (Cyanobacteria) Lichens. (Prelims 2014)

Plantae

These are multicellular eukaryotes with cell walls.

They are autotrophs and use chlorophyll for photosynthesis.

Animalia

These include all organisms which are multicellular eukaryotes without cell walls. They are
heterotrophs.

The Living World

The fungi, the filamentous algae, the protonema of mosses, all easily multiply by fragmentation.
Further, there are many organisms which do not reproduce (mules, sterile worker bees,
infertile human couples, etc).

Diversity in the Living World

The number of species that are known and described range between 1.7-1.8 million. This refers

to biodiversity or the number and types of organisms present on earth.

There is a need to standardise the naming of living organisms such that a particular organism is

known by the same name all over the world. This process is called nomenclature.
Obviously, nomenclature or naming is only possible when the organism is described correctly and

we know to what organism the name is attached to. This is identification.

For plants, scientific names are based on agreed principles and criteria, which are provided in
International Code for Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN). You may ask, how are animals

named? Animal taxonomists have evolved International Code of Zoological Nomenclature

(ICZN). The scientific names ensure that each organism has only one name.
Biologists follow universally accepted principles to provide scientific names to known organisms.
Each name has two components - the Generic name and the specific epithet. This system of
providing a name with two components is called Binomial nomenclature. This naming system

given by Carolus Linnaeus is being practised by biologists all over the world.
The scientific name of mango is written as Mangiferaindica. Let us see how it is a binomial name.
In this name Mangifera represents the genus while indica, is a particular species, or a

specific epithet. Other universal rules of nomenclature are as follows:

Biological names are generally in Latin and written in italics. They are Latinised or derived from

Latin irrespective of their origin.

The first word in a biological name represents the genus while the second component denotes the

specific epithet.
Both the words in a biological name, when handwritten, are separately underlined, or printed in italics

to indicate their Latin origin.

The first word denoting the genus starts with a capital letter while the specific epithet starts with a

small letter. it can be illustrated with the example of Mangiferaindica.

Name of the author appears after the specific epithet, i.e., at the end of the biological name and is
written in an abbreviated form, e.g., Mangiferaindica Linn. It indicates that this species was first
described by Linnaeus.
Since it is nearly impossible to study all the living organisms, it is necessary to devise some means
to make this possible. This process is classification. Classification is the process by which

anything is grouped into convenient categories based on some easily observable characters.
The scientific term for these categories is taxa. Here you must recognise that taxa can indicate
categories at very different levels. Plants - also form a taxa. Wheat is also a taxa. Similarly,
animals, mammals, dogs are all taxa - but you know that a dog is a mammal and mammals are

animals. Therefore, animals, mammals and dogs represent taxa at different levels.
Hence, based on characteristics, all living organisms can be classified into different taxa. This
process of classification is taxonomy. External and internal structure, along with the structure of
cell, process and ecological information of organisms are essential and form the basis of modern

taxonomic studies.
Hence, characterisation, identification, classification and nomenclature are the processes

that are basic to taxonomy.

Human beings were, since long, not only interested in knowing more about different kinds of
organisms and their diversities, but also the relationships among them. This branch of study was
referred to as systematics. The word systematics is derived from the Latin word systema which
means systematic arrangement of organisms. Linnaeus used SystemaNaturae as the title of his
publication. The scope of systematics was later enlarged to include identification, nomenclature and
classification. Systematics takes into account evolutionary relationships between organisms.

Taxonomic Categories

Classification is not a single step process but involves hierarchy of steps in which each step
represents a rank or category. Since the category is a part of overall taxonomic arrangement, it is

called the taxonomic category and all categories together constitute the
taxonomic hierarchy.
Species

Taxonomic studies consider a group of individual organisms with fundamental similarities

as a species. Let us consider Mangiferaindica, Solanumtuberosum (potato) and
Pantheraleo (lion). All the three names, indica, tuberosum and leo, represent the specific
epithets, while the first words Mangifera, Solanum and Panthera are genera and
represents another higher level of taxon or category. Each genus may have one or more than
one

specific

similarities.

epithets
For

representing

example,

different

Panthera

has

organisms,
another

but

having

specific

morphological

epithet

called

tigris(Pantheratigris) and Solanum includes species like nigrum and melongena.

Human beings belong to the species sapiens which is grouped in the genus
Homo. The scientific name thus, for human being, is written as Homo sapiens.
Genus

Genus comprises a group of related species which has more characters in common in
comparison to species of other genera. We can say that genera are aggregates of closely
related species. For example, potato and brinjal are two different species but both belong to the
genus Solanum. Lion (Pantheraleo), leopard (P. pardus) and tiger (P. tigris) with several common
features, are all species of the genus Panthera. This genus differs from another genus Felis which
includes cats.

Family

The next category, Family, has a group of related genera with still less number of similarities as
compared to genus and species. Families are characterised on the basis of both vegetative and

reproductive features of plant species.

Among animals for example, genus Panthera, comprising lion, tiger, leopard is put along with
genus, Felis (cats) in the family Felidae. Similarly, if you observe the features of a cat and a dog,
you will find some similarities and some differences as well. They are separated into two different
families - Felidae and Canidae, respectively.

Order

You have seen earlier that categories like species, genus and families are based on a number of
similar characters. Generally, order and other higher taxonomic categories are identified based on
the aggregates of characters.

Class

This category includes related orders.

Phylum

Classes comprising animals like fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds along with mammals
constitute the next higher category called Phylum.

Kingdom

All animals belonging to various phyla are assigned to the highest category called Kingdom
Animalia in the classification system of animals. The Kingdom Plantae, on the other hand, is
distinct, and comprises all plants from various divisions. Henceforth, we will refer to these two
groups as animal and plant kingdoms.

Herbarium

Herbarium is a store house of collected plant specimens that are dried, pressed and preserved
on sheets. Further, these sheets are arrangedaccording to a universally accepted system of
classification. These specimens, along with their descriptions on herbarium sheets, become a store
house or repository for future use (Figure 1.2). The herbarium sheets also carry a label providing
information about date and place of collection, English, local and botanical names, family,
collectors name, etc. Herbaria also serve as quick referral systems in taxonomical studies.

Botanical Gardens

These specialised gardens have collections of living plants for reference. Plant species in these
gardens are grown for identification purposes and each plant is labelled indicating its
botanical/scientific name and its family. The famous botanical gardens are at Kew (England), Indian

Botanical Garden, Howrah (India) and at National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow
(India).
Museum

Biological museums are generally set up in educational institutes such as schools and colleges.
Museums have collections of preserved plant and animal specimens for study and reference.
Specimens are preserved in the containers or jars in preservative solutions. Plant and animal
specimens may also be preserved as dry specimens. Insects are preserved in insect boxes after
collecting, killing and pinning. Larger animals like birds and mammals are usually stuffed and
preserved. Museums often have collections of skeletons of animals too.

Zoological Parks

These are the places where wild animals are kept in protected environments under human care and
which enable us to learn about their food habits and behaviour. All animals in a zoo are provided,
as far as possible, the conditions similar to their natural habitats.

Key

Key is another taxonomical aid used for identification of plants and animals based on the

similarities and dissimilarities.

The keys are based on the contrasting characters generally in a pair called couplet.
Flora, manuals, monographs and catalogues are some other means of recording descriptions.

Biological Classification
2.1 Kingdom Monera
2.2 Kingdom Protista
2.3 Kingdom Fungi
2.4 Kingdom Plantae
2.5 Kingdom Animalia
2.6 Viruses, Viroids and Lichens

In Linnaeus' time a Two Kingdom system of classification with Plantae and Animalia kingdoms was

developed
This system did not distinguish between the eukaryotes and prokaryotes, unicellular and
multicellular

organisms

and

photosynthetic

(green

algae)

and

non-photosynthetic

(fungi)

organisms. Classification of organisms into plants and animals was easily done and was easy to
understand, but, a large number of organisms did not fall into either category. Hence the two
kingdom classification used for a long time was found inadequate.

R.H. Whittaker (1969) proposed a Five Kingdom Classification.

The kingdoms defined by him were named Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia.
The main criteria for classification used by him include cell structure, thallusorganisation,
mode of nutrition, reproduction and phylogenetic (nounBiology the evolutionary development and
diversification of a species or group of organisms. Compare with ontogeny) relationships.

Drawbacks

It brought together the prokaryotic bacteria and the blue green algae with other groups which were

eukaryotic.
it also grouped together the unicellular organisms and the multicellular ones
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.
All prokaryotic organisms were grouped together under Kingdom Monera and the unicellular
eukaryotic organisms were placed in Kingdom Protista. Kingdom Protista has brought together
Chlamydomonas, Chlorella (earlier placed in Algae within Plants and both having cell walls)
with Paramoecium and Amoeba (which were earlier placed in the animal kingdom which lack
cell wall)

Kingdom Monera

Bacteria are the sole members of the Kingdom Monera.

They are single celled prokaryotes.
They are the most abundant micro-organisms.
They also live in extreme habitats such as hot springs, deserts, snow and deep oceans where very
few other life forms can survive.
Many of them live in or on other organisms as parasites.
Bacteria are grouped under four categories based on their shape
1. the spherical Coccus
2. the rod-shaped Bacillus
3. the comma-shaped Vibrium
4. the spiral Spirillum

Though the bacterial structure is very simple, they are very complex in behaviour.
Compared to many other organisms, bacteria as a group show the most extensive metabolic

diversity.
Some of the bacteria are autotrophic, i.e., they synthesise their own food from inorganic
substrates. They may be photosynthetic autotrophic or chemosynthetic autotrophic
(nounBiology the metabolic synthesis of organic compounds by living organisms using energy derived from

reactions involving inorganic chemicals).

The vast majority of bacteria are heterotrophs, i.e., they do not synthesise their own food but
depend on other organisms or on dead organic matter for food.

Archaebacteria

These bacteria are special since they live in some of the most harsh habitats such as
extreme salty areas (halophiles),
hot springs (thermoacidophiles) and
marshy areas (methanogens).
Archaebacteria differ from other bacteria in having a different cell wall structure and this

feature is responsible for their survival in extreme conditions.

Methanogens are present in the gut of several ruminant animals such as cows and buffaloes and
they are responsible for the production of methane (biogas) from the dung of these animals.

Eubacteria

There are thousands of different eubacteria or true bacteria.

They are characterised by the presence of a rigid cell wall, and if motile, a flagellum.

Photosynthetic bacteria

The cyanobacteria (also referred to as blue-green algae) have chlorophyll a similar to green

plants and are photosynthetic autotrophs (Figure 2.2).

The cyanobacteria are unicellular, colonial, filamentous, freshwater/marine or terrestrial

algae. The colonies are generally surrounded by gelatinous sheath.

They often form blooms in polluted water bodies.
Some of these organisms can fix atmospheric nitrogen in specialised cells called heterocysts,
e.g., Nostoc and Anabaena.

Chemosynthetic bacteria

Chemosynthetic autotrophic bacteriaoxidise various inorganic substances such as nitrates,

nitrites and ammonia and use the released energy for their ATP production.
They play a great role in recycling nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorous, iron and sulphur.

Heterotrophic bacteria

Heterotrophic bacteria are the most abundant in nature.

The majority are important decomposers.
Many of them have a significant impact on human affairs.
They are helpful in making curd from milk, production of antibiotics, fixing nitrogen in

legumeroots, etc.
Some are pathogens causing damage to human beings, crops, farm animals and pets.
Cholera,
typhoid,
tetanus,
citrus canker are well known diseases caused by different bacteria.

Reproduction

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.

Mycoplasma

The Mycoplasma are organisms that completely lack a cell wall. They are the smallest living

cells known and can survive without oxygen.

Many mycoplasma are pathogenic in animals and plants.

Kingdom Protista

All single-celled eukaryotes are placed under Protista

boundaries of this kingdom are not well defined.
In this book we include

Chrysophytes,
Dinoflagellates,
Euglenoids,
Slime moulds and
Protozoansunder Protista.
Members of Protista are primarily aquatic.
This kingdom forms a link with the others dealing with plants, animals and fungi.
Being eukaryotes, the protistan cell body contains a well defined nucleus and other membrane-

bound organelles.
Some have flagella or cilia.
Protists reproduce asexually and sexually by a process involving cell fusion and zygote formation.

Chrysophytes

This group includes diatoms and golden algae (desmids).

They are found in fresh water as well as in marine environments.
They are microscopic and float passively in water currents (plankton).
Most of them are photosynthetic.
In diatoms the cell walls form two thin overlapping shells, which fit together as in a soap box. The

walls are embedded with silica and thus the walls are indestructible.
Thus, diatoms have left behind large amount of cell wall deposits in their habitat; this accumulation

over billions of years is referred to as diatomaceous earth.

Being gritty this soil is used in polishing, filtration of oils and syrups. Diatoms are the chief
producers in the oceans.

Dinoflagellates

These organisms are mostly marine and photosynthetic.

They appear yellow, green, brown, blue or red depending on the main pigments present in their

cells.
The cell wall has stiff cellulose plates on the outer surface.
Most of them have two flagella; one lies longitudinally and the other transversely in a furrow

between the wall plates.

Very often, red dinoflagellates (Example: Gonyaulax) undergo such rapid multiplication that

they make the sea appear red (red tides).

Toxins released by such large numbers may even kill other marine animals such as fishes.

Euglenoids

Majority of them are fresh water organisms found in stagnant water.

Instead of a cell wall, they have a protein rich layer called pellicle which makes their body flexible.
They have two flagella, a short and a long one.
Though they are photosynthetic in the presence of sunlight, when deprived of sunlight they

behave like heterotrophs by predating on other smaller organisms.

Interestingly, the pigments of euglenoids are identical to those present in higher plants. Example:
Euglena

Slime Moulds

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 spores possess true walls. They are extremely resistant and survive for

many years, even under adverse conditions. The spores are dispersed by air currents.

Protozoans

All protozoans are heterotrophs and live as predators or parasites. They are believed to be
primitive relatives of animals. There are four major groups of protozoans.

Amoeboid protozoans

These organisms live in fresh water, sea water or moist soil.

They move and capture their prey by putting out pseudopodia (false feet) as in Amoeba.
Marine forms have silica shells on their surface.
Some of them such as Entamoeba are parasites.

Flagellated protozoans

The members of this group are either free-living or parasitic.

They have flagella.
The parasitic forms cause diaseases such as sleeping sickness. Example: Trypanosoma.

Ciliated protozoans

These are aquatic, actively moving organisms because of the presence of thousands of cilia.
They have a cavity (gullet) that opens to the outside of the cell surface.
The coordinated movement of rows of cilia causes the water laden with food to be steered into the

gullet.
Example: Paramoecium.

Sporozoans

This includes diverse organisms that have an infectious spore-like stage in their life cycle.
The most notorious is Plasmodium (malarial parasite) which causes malaria, a disease which
has a staggering effect on human population.

Kingdom Fungi

The fungi constitute a unique kingdom of heterotrophic organisms.

They show a great diversity in morphology and habitat.
When your bread develops a mould or your orange rots it is because of fungi.
The common mushroom you eat and toadstools are also fungi.
White spots seen on mustard leaves are due to a parasitic fungus.
Some unicellular fungi, e.g., yeast are used to make bread and beer.

Other fungi cause diseases in plants and animals; wheat rust-causingPuccinia is an important

example.
Some are the source of antibiotics, e.g., Penicillium.
Fungi are cosmopolitan and occur in air, water, soil and on animals and plants.
They prefer to grow in warm and humid places. Have you ever wondered why we keep food in the

refrigerator? Yes, it is to prevent food from going bad due to bacterial or fungal infections.
With the exception of yeasts which are unicellular, fungi are filamentous.
Their bodies consist of long, slender thread-like structures called hyphae.
The network of hyphae is known as mycelium.
Some hyphae are continuous tubes filled with multinucleated cytoplasm - these are called

coenocytic hyphae.
Others have septae or cross walls in their hyphae. The cell walls of fungi are composed of chitin

and polysaccharides.
Most fungi are heterotrophic and absorb soluble organic matter from dead substrates and hence

are called saprophytes.

Those that depend on living plants and animals are called parasites.
They can also live as symbionts - in association with algae as lichens and with roots of higher

plants as mycorrhiza.
Reproduction in fungi can take place by vegetative means - fragmentation, fission and budding.
Asexual reproduction is by sporescalled conidia or sporangiospores or zoospores, and sexual

reproduction is by oospores, ascosporesand basidiospores.

The various spores are produced in distinct structures called fruiting bodies. The sexual cycle

involves the following three steps:

1. Fusion of protoplasms between two motile or non-motile gametes called plasmogamy.
2. Fusion of two nuclei called karyogamy.
3. Meiosis in zygote resulting in haploid spores.
When a fungus reproduces sexually, two haploid hyphae of compatible mating types come together

and fuse. In some fungi the fusion of two haploid cells immediately results in diploid cells (2n).
However, in other fungi (ascomycetes and basidiomycetes), an intervening dikaryotic stage (n
+ n, i.e., two nuclei per cell) occurs; such a condition is called a dikaryonand the phase is called
dikaryophase of fungus. Later, the parental nuclei fuse and the cells become diploid. The fungi
form fruiting bodies in which reduction division occurs, leading to formation of haploid spores.

Phycomycetes

Asexual reproduction takes place by zoospores (motile) or by aplanospores (non-motile).

These spores are endogenously produced in sporangium.
A zygospore is formed by fusion of two gametes.
These gametes are similar in morphology (isogamous) or dissimilar (anisogamous or

oogamous).
Some common examples are Mucor, Rhizopus (the bread mould mentioned earlier) and
Albugo(the parasitic fungi on mustard).

Ascomycetes

Commonly known as sac-fungi, the as comycetes are mostly multicellular, e.g., Penicillium, or
rarely unicellular, e.g., yeast (Saccharomyces).

Basidiomycetes

Commonly known forms of basidiomycetes are mushrooms, bracket fungi or puffballs.

They grow in soil, on logs and tree stumps and in living plant bodies as parasites, e.g., rusts and

smuts.
The mycelium is branched and septate.
The asexual spores are generally not found, but vegetative reproduction by fragmentation is

common.
The sex organs are absent, but plasmogamy is brought about by fusion of two vegetative or
somatic cells of different strains or genotypes. The resultant structure is dikaryotic.

Deuteromycetes

Commonly known as imperfect fungi because only the asexual or vegetative phases of these
fungi are known.

Kingdom Plantae

Kingdom Plantae includes all eukaryotic chlorophyll-containing organisms commonly called plants.
A few members are partially heterotrophic such as the insectivorous plants or parasites.

Bladderwort and Venus fly trap are examples of insectivorous plants and Cuscuta is a parasite.
The plant cells have an eukaryotic structure with prominent chloroplasts and cell wall mainly made

of cellulose.
Plantae includes algae, bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms and angiosperms.
Life cycle of plants has two distinct phases - the diploid sporophytic and the haploid

gametophytic - that alternate with each other.

The lengths of the haploid and diploid phases, and whether these phases are free- living or
dependent on others, vary among different groups in plants. This phenomenon is called
alternation of generation.

Kingdom Animalia

This kingdom is characterised by heterotrophic eukaryotic organisms that are multicellular and their

cells lack cell walls.

They directly or indirectly depend on plants for food.
They digest their food in an internal cavity and store food reserves as glycogen or fat.
Their mode of nutrition is holozoic - by ingestion of food.
They follow a definite growth pattern and grow into adults that have a definite shape and size.
Higher forms show elaborate sensory and neuromotor mechanism. Most of them are capable of

locomotion.
The sexual reproduction is by copulation of male and female followed by embryological
development.

Viruses, Viroids and Lichens

In the five kingdom classification of Whittaker there is no mention of some acellular organisms
like viruses and viroids, and lichens. These are briefly introduced here.

All of us who have suffered the ill effects of common cold or flu know what effects viruses can
have on us, even if we do not associate it with our condition. Viruses did not find a place in
classification since they are not truly living, if we understand living as those organisms that have a

cell structure.
The viruses are non-cellular organisms that are characterised by having an inert crystalline

structure outside the living cell.

Once theyinfect a cell they take over the machinery of the host cell to replicate themselves, killing
the host.

Figure 2.6 Virus

The name virus that means venom or poisonous fluid was given by Pasteur. D.J. Ivanowsky
(1892) recognised certain microbes as causal organism of the mosaic disease of tobacco. These

were found to be smaller than bacteria because they passed through bacteria-proof filters.
Viruses are obligate parasites.
In addition to proteins, viruses also contain genetic material, that could be either RNA or DNA.

No virus contains both RNA and DNA.

A virus is a nucleoprotein and the genetic material is infectious.
In general, viruses that infect plants have single stranded RNA and viruses that infect animals

have either single or double stranded RNA or double stranded DNA.

Bacterial viruses or bacteriophages (viruses that infect the bacteria) are usually double

stranded DNA viruses

The protein coat called capsid made of small subunits called capsomeres, protects the nucleic

acid.
These capsomeres are arranged in helical or polyhedral geometric forms.
Viruses cause diseases like mumps, small pox, herpes and influenza. AIDS in humans is also

caused by a virus.
In plants, the symptoms can be mosaic formation, leaf rolling and curling, yellowing and
vein clearing, dwarfing and stunted growth.

Viroids

In 1971, T.O. Diener discovered a new infectious agent that was smaller than viruses and caused
potato spindle tuber disease. It was found to be a free RNA; it lacked the protein coat that
is found in viruses, hence the name viroid. The RNA of the viroid was of low molecular weight.

Lichens

Lichens are symbiotic associations i.e. mutually useful associations, between algae and fungi. The
algal component is known as phycobiont and fungal component as mycobiont, which are

autotrophic and heterotrophic, respectively.

Algae prepare food for fungi and fungi provide shelter and absorb mineral nutrients and water for

its partner.
So close is their association that if one saw a lichen in nature one would never imagine that they

had two different organisms within them.

Lichens are very good pollution indicators - they do not grow in polluted areas.

Summary

Biological classification of plants and animals was first proposed by Aristotle on the basis of simple

morphological characters.
Linnaeus later classified all living organisms into two kingdoms - Plantae and Animalia.
Whittaker proposed an elaborate five kingdom classification - Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae and

Animalia.
The main criteria of the five kingdom classification were cell structure, body organisation, mode of

nutrition and reproduction, and phylogenetic relationships.

In the five kingdom classification, bacteria are included in Kingdom Monera. Bacteria are
cosmopolitan in distribution. These organisms show the most extensive metabolic diversity.

Bacteria may be autotrophic or heterotrophic in their mode of nutrition.

Kingdom Protista includes all single-celled eukaryotes such as Chrysophytes, Dinoflagellates,
Euglenoids, Slime-moulds and Protozoans. Protists have defined nucleus and other membrane

bound organelles. They reproduce both asexually and sexually.

Members of Kingdom Fungi show a great diversity in structures and habitat. Most fungi are
saprophytic in their mode of nutrition. They show asexual and sexual reproduction. Phycomycetes,

Ascomycetes, Basidiomycetes and Deuteromycetes are the four classes under this kingdom.
The plantae includes all eukaryotic chlorophyll-containing organisms. Algae, bryophytes,
pteridophytes, gymnosperms and angiosperms are included in this group. The life cycle of plants
exhibit alternation of generations - gametophytic and sporophytic generations. The heterotrophic
eukaryotic, multicellular organisms lacking a cell wall are included in the Kingdom Animalia. The
mode of nutrition of these organisms is holozoic. They reproduce mostly by the sexual mode. Some
acellular organisms like viruses and viroids as well as the lichens are not included in the five
kingdom system of classification.

Exercises

1.
2.

10.
11.

Discuss how classification systems have undergone several changes over a period of time?
State two economically important uses of:
(a)
heterotrophic bacteria
(b)
archaebacteria
What is the nature of cell-walls in diatoms?
Find out what do the terms algal bloom and red-tides signify.
How are viroids different from viruses?
Describe briefly the four major groups of Protozoa.
Plants are autotrophic. Can you think of some plants that are partially heterotrophic?
What do the terms phycobiont and mycobiont signify?
Give a comparative account of the classes of Kingdom Fungi under the following:
(i)
mode of nutrition
(ii)
mode of reproduction
What are the characteristic features of Euglenoids?
Give a brief account of viruses with respect to their structure and nature of genetic material. Also

12.

name four common viral diseases.

Organise a discussion in your class on the topic - Are viruses living or nonliving?

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Cell Cycle and Cell Division

Cell Cycle

During the division of a cell, DNA replication and cell growth also take place. All these processes,
i.e., cell division, DNA replication, and cell growth, hence, have to take place in a coordinated way

to ensure correct division and formation of progeny cells containing intact genomes.
The sequence of events by which a cell duplicates its genome, synthesises the other constituents of

the cell and eventually divides into two daughter cells is termed cell cycle.
Although cell growth (in terms of cytoplasmic increase) is a continuous process, DNA synthesis

occurs only during one specific stage in the cell cycle.

The replicated chromosomes (DNA) are then distributed to daughter nuclei by a complex series of
events during cell division. These events are themselves under genetic control.

Cell Cycle and Cell Division

Phases of Cell Cycle

A typical eukaryotic cell cycle is illustrated by human cells in culture. These cells divide once in

approximately every 24 hours (Figure 10.1).

However, this duration of cell cycle can vary from organism to organism and also from cell type to

cell type. Yeast for example, can progress through the cell cycle in only about 90 minutes.
The cell cycle is divided into two basic phases:

Interphase

M Phase (Mitosis phase)

The M Phase represents the phase when the actual cell division or mitosis occurs and the
interphase represents the phase between two successive M phases. It is significant to note that in
the 24 hour average duration of cell cycle of a human cell, cell division proper lasts for only about

an hour. The interphase lasts more than 95% of the duration of cell cycle.
The M Phase starts with the nuclear division, corresponding to the separation of daughter
chromosomes (karyokinesis) and usually ends with division of cytoplasm (cytokinesis).

The interphase, though called the resting phase, is the time during which the cell is preparing for
division by undergoing both cell growth and DNA replication in an orderly manner. The interphase is
divided into three further phases:

Figure 10.1 A diagrammatic view of cell cycle indicating formation of two cells from one cell

G1 phase (Gap 1)

S phase (Synthesis)

G2 phase (Gap 2)
G1 phase corresponds to the interval between mitosis and initiation of DNA replication.
During G1 phase the cell is metabolically active and continuously grows but does not replicate

its DNA.
S or synthesis phase marks the period during which DNA synthesis or replication takes place.
During this time the amount of DNA per cell doubles. If the initial amount of DNA is denoted as 2C
then it increases to 4C. However, there is no increase in the chromosome number; if the cell
had diploid or 2n number of chromosomes at G1, even after s phase the number of chromosomes

remains the same, i.e., 2n.

In animal cells, during the S phase, DNA replication begins in the nucleus, and the centriole

duplicates in the cytoplasm.

During the G2 phase, proteins are synthesised in preparation for mitosis while cell growth

continues.
You have studied mitosis in onion root tip cells. It has 16 chromosomes in each cell. Can you tell
how many chromosomes will the cell have at G 1 phase, after S phase, and after M phase? Also,
what will be the DNA content of the cells at G1, after S and at G2, if the content after M phase is

2C?
Some cells in the adult animals do not appear to exhibit division (e.g., heart cells) and many
other cells divide only occasionally, as needed to replace cells that have been lost because of injury
or cell death. These cells that do not divide further exit G 1 phase to enter an inactive stage called
quiescent stage (G0) of the cell cycle. Cells in this stage remain metabolically active but no

longer proliferate unless called on to do so depending on the requirement of the organism.

In animals, mitotic cell division is only seen in the diploid somatic cells. Against this, the plants
can show mitotic divisions in both haploid and diploid cells.

M Phase

This is the most dramatic period of the cell cycle, involving a major

reorganisation of virtually all components of the cell. Since the number of

chromosomes in the parent and progeny cells is the same, it is also called as
equational division.
Though for convenience mitosis has been divided into four stages of nuclear
division, it is very essential to understand that cell division is a progressive
process and very clear-cut lines cannot be drawn between various stages.
Mitosis is divided into the following four stages:PM AT
1. Prophase
2. Metaphase
3. Anaphase
4. Telophase
Prophase

Prophase which is the first stage of mitosis follows the S and G 2 phases of
interphase. In the S and G2 phases the new DNA molecules formed are not

distinct but intertwined. Prophase is marked by the initiation of condensation of

chromosomal material.
CentriolenounBiology each of a pair of minute cylindrical structures near the nucleus in eukaryotic
cells, involved in the development of spindle fibres in cell division.
The chromosomal material becomes untangled during the process of
chromatin

condensation

(Figure

10.2

a).

The

centriole,

which

had

undergone duplication during S phase of interphase, now begins to move towards

opposite poles of the cell. The completion of prophase can thus be marked by the
following characteristic events:

Chromosomal

material

condenses

to

form

compact

mitotic

chromosomes.
Chromosomes are seen to be composed of two chromatids attached

together at the centromere.

Initiation of the assembly of mitotic spindle, the microtubules, the proteinaceous

components of the cell cytoplasm help in the process.

Cells at the end of prophase, when viewed under the microscope, do not show golgi complexes,
endoplasmic reticulum, nucleolus and the nuclear envelope.

Metaphase

The complete disintegration of the nuclear envelope marks the start of the second phase of

mitosis, hence the chromosomes are spread through the cytoplasm of the cell.
By this stage, condensation of chromosomes is completed and they can be observed clearly
under the microscope. This then, is the stage at which morphology of chromosomes is most
easily studied. At this stage, metaphase chromosome is made up of two sister chromatids, which

are

held together by the centromere (Figure 10.2 b). Small disc-shaped structures at
the surface of the centromeres are called kinetochores.
These structures serve as the sites of attachment of spindle fibres (formed

by the spindle fibres) to the chromosomes that are moved into position at the
centre of the cell. Hence, the metaphase is characterised by all the
chromosomes coming to lie at the equator with one chromatid of each
chromosome connected by its kinetochore to spindle fibres from one pole and
its

sister chromatid connected by its kinetochore to spindle fibres from the opposite
pole (Figure 10.2 b). The plane of alignment of the chromosomes at metaphase is
referred to as the metaphase plate. The key features of metaphase are:

Spindle fibres attach to kinetochores of chromosomes.

Chromosomes are moved to spindle equator and get

aligned along metaphase plate through spindle fibres to
both poles.
Anaphase

At the onset of anaphase, each chromosome arranged at the metaphase plate is

split simultaneously and the two daughter chromatids, now referred to as
chromosomes of the future daughter nuclei, begin their migration towards the two
opposite poles. As each chromosome moves away from the equatorial plate, the
centromere of each chromosome is towards the pole and hence at the leading
edge, with the arms of the chromosome trailing behind (Figure 10.2 c). Thus,
anaphase stage is characterised by the following key events:

Centromeres split and chromatids separate.

Chromatids move to opposite poles.

Telophase

At

the beginning of the final stage of mitosis, i.e., telophase, the chromosomes that
have reached their respective poles decondense and lose their individuality. The
individual chromosomes can no longer be seen and chromatin material tends to
collect in a mass in the two poles (Figure 10.2 d). This is the

stage which shows the following key events:

Chromosomes cluster at opposite spindle poles and their identity is lost as

discrete elements.
Nuclear envelope assembles around the chromosome clusters.
Nucleolus, golgi complex and ER reform.

Cytokinesis

Mitosis accomplishes not only the segregation of duplicated chromosomes into daughter nuclei
(karyokinesis), but the cell itself is divided into two daughter cells by a separate process called
cytokinesis at the end of which cell division is complete (Figure 10.2 e).

In an animal cell, this is achieved by the appearance of a furrow in the plasma membrane. The

furrow gradually deepens and ultimately joins in the centre dividing the cell cytoplasm into two.
Plant cells however, are enclosed by a relatively inextensible cell wall, thererfore they undergo
cytokinesis by a different mechanism. In plant cells, wall formation starts in the centre of the cell
and grows outward to meet the existing lateral walls. The formation of the new cell wall begins with
the formation of a simple precursor, called the cell-plate that represents the middle lamella
between the walls of two adjacent cells. At the time of cytoplasmic division, organelles like
mitochondria and plastids get distributed between the two daughter cells. In some organisms
karyokinesis is not followed by cytokinesis as a result of which multinucleate condition arises
leading to the formation of syncytium (e.g., liquid endosperm in coconut).

Significance of Mitosis

Mitosis or the equational division is usually restricted to the diploid cells only. However, in

some lower plants and in some social insects haploid cells also divide by mitosis.
Mitosis usually results in the production of diploid daughter cells with identical genetic
complement. The growth of multicellular organisms is due to mitosis. Cell growth results in
disturbing the ratio between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. It therefore becomes essential for the
cell to divide to restore the nucleo-cytoplasmic ratio. A very significant contribution of mitosis is
cell repair. The cells of the upper layer of the epidermis, cells of the lining of the gut, and blood
cells are being constantly replaced. Mitotic divisions in the meristematic tissues - the apical and the
lateral cambium, result in a continuous growth of plants throughout their life.

Meiosis

The production of offspring by sexual reproduction includes the fusion of two gametes, each with a
complete haploid set of chromosomes. Gametes are formed from specialised diploid cells. This
specialised kind of cell division that reduces the chromosome number by half results in the
production of haploid daughter cells. This kind of division is called meiosis. Meiosis ensures the
production of haploid phase in the life cycle of sexually reproducing organisms whereas fertilisation
restores the diploid phase. We come across meiosis during gametogenesis in plants and animals.
This leads to the formation of haploid gametes. The key features of meiosis are as follows:

Meiosis involves two sequential cycles of nuclear and cell division called meiosis I

and meiosis II but only a single cycle of DNA replication.

Meiosis I is initiated after the parental chromosomes have replicated to produce identical

sister chromatids at the s phase.

Meiosis involves pairing of homologous chromosomes and recombination between them.
Four haploid cells are formed at the end of meiosis II.
Meiotic events can be grouped under the following phases:

Significance of Meiosis

Meiosis is the mechanism by which conservation of specific chromosome number of each

species is achieved across generations in sexually reproducing organisms, even though the
process, per se, paradoxically, results in reduction of chromosome number by half. It also increases
the genetic variability in the population of organisms from one generation to the next. Variations
are very important for the process of evolution.

Summary

According to the cell theory, cells arise from preexisting cells. The process by which this occurs is
called cell division. Any sexually reproducing organism starts its life cycle from a single-celled
zygote. Cell division does not stop with the formation of the mature organism but continues

throughout its life cycle.

The stages through which a cell passes from one division to the next is called the cell cycle. Cell
cycle is divided into two phases called (i) Interphase - a period of preparation for cell division, and
(ii) Mitosis (M phase) - the actual period of cell division. Interphase is further subdivided into Gj, S
and G2. G1 phase is the period when the cell grows and carries out normal metabolism. Most of the
organelle duplication also occurs during this phase. S phase marks the phase of DNA replication
and chromosome duplication. G2 phase is the period of cytoplasmic growth. Mitosis is also divided
into

four

stages

namely

prophase,

metaphase,

anaphase

and

telophase.

Chromosome

condensation occurs during prophase. Simultaneously, the centrioles move to the opposite poles.
The nuclear envelope and the nucleolus disappear and the spindle fibres start appearing.
Metaphase is marked by the alignment of chromosomes at the equatorial plate. During anaphase
the centromeres divide and the chromatids start moving towards the two opposite poles. once the
chromatids reach the two poles, the chromosomal elongation starts, nucleolus and the nuclear
membrane reappear. This stage is called the telophase. Nuclear division is then followed by the
cytoplasmic division and is called cytokinesis. Mitosis thus, is the equational division in which the

chromosome number of the parent is conserved in the daughter cell.

In contrast to mitosis, meiosis occurs in the diploid cells, which are destined to form gametes. it is
called the reduction division since it reduces the chromosome number by half while making the
gametes. In sexual reproduction when the two gametes fuse the chromosome number is restored
to the value in the parent. Meiosis is divided into two phases - meiosis I and meiosis II. In the first

meiotic division the homologous chromosomes pair to form bivalents, and undergo crossing over.
Meiosis I has a long prophase, which is divided further into five phases. Meiosis II is similar to
mitosis.

EVOLUTION

Evolutionary Biology is the study of history of life forms on earth.

ORIGIN OF LIFE

The universe is very old - almost 20 billion years old. Huge clusters of galaxies comprise the

universe.
Galaxies contain stars and clouds of gas and dust. Considering the size of universe, earth is indeed

a speck.
The Big Bang theory attempts to explain to us the origin of universe. It talks of a singular huge

explosion unimaginable in physical terms.

The universe expanded and hence, the temperature came down. Hydrogen and Helium formed
sometime later. The gases condensed under gravitation and formed the galaxies of the present day

universe.
In the solar system of the milky way galaxy, earth was supposed to have been formed about 4.5

billion years back.

There was no atmosphere on early earth. Water vapour, methane, carbondioxide and

ammonia released from molten mass covered the surface.

The UV rays from the sun brokeup water into Hydrogen and Oxygen and the lighter H2 escaped.
Oxygen combined with ammonia and methane to form water, CO2 and others.
The ozone layer was formed. As it cooled, the water vapor fell as rain, to fill all the depressions and

form oceans.
Life appeared 500 million years after the formation of earth, i.e., almost four billion years

back.
Did life come from outerspace? Some scientists believe that it came from outside.
The first non-cellular forms of life could have originated 3 billion years back. They would have been
giant molecules (RNA, Protein, Polysaccharides, etc.). These capsules reproduced their

molecules perhaps.
The first cellular form of life did not possibly originate till about 2000 million years ago. These were
probably single-cells. All life forms were in water environment only. This version of a biogenesis,
i.e., the first form of life arose slowly through evolutionary forces from non-living molecules is
accepted by majority. However, once formed, how the first cellular forms of life could have evolved
into the complex biodiversity of today is the fascinating story that will be discussed below.

EVOLUTION?

Homology indicates common ancestry. Homology is based on divergent evolution whereas

Analogy refers to a situation exactly opposite. Wings of butterfly and of birds look alike. They are
not anatomically similar structures though they perform similar functions. Hence, analogous

structures are a result of convergent evolution - different structures evolving for the same

function and hence having similarity.

Other examples of analogy are the eye of the octopus and of mammals or the flippers of Penguins
and Dolphins. One can say that it is the similar habitat that has resulted in selection of similar

adaptive features in different groups of organisms but toward the same function:
Sweet potato (root modification) and potato (stem modification) is another example for
analogy.

What is adaptive radiation?

During his journey Darwin went to Galapagos Islands. There he observed an amazing diversity of
creatures. Of particular interest, small black birds later called Darwins Finches amazed him. He
realised that there were many varieties of finches in the same island. All the varieties, he
conjectured, evolved on the island itself. From the original seed-eating features, many other forms
with altered beaks arose, enabling them to become insectivorous and vegetarian finches. This
process of evolution of different species in a given geographical area starting from a
point and literally radiating to other areas of geography (habitats) is called adaptive
radiation.

Biological evolution

The essence of Darwinian theory about evolution is natural selection. The rate of appearance of
new forms is linked to the life cycle or the life span. Microbes that divide fast have the ability to
multiply and become millions of individuals within hours. A colony of bacteria (say A) growing on a
given medium has built- in variation in terms of ability to utilise a feed component. A change in the
medium composition would bring out only that part of the population (say B) that can survive
under the new conditions. In due course of time this variant population outgrows the others and
appears as new species. This would happen within days. For the same thing to happen in a fish or

fowl would take million of years as life spans of these animals are in years.
Hence, there must be a genetic basis for getting selected and to evolve. Another way of saying the
same thing is that some organisms are better adapted to survive in an otherwise hostile
environment. Adaptive ability is inherited. It has a genetic basis. Fitness is the end result
of the ability to adapt and get selected by nature.

A brief account of evolution

About 2000 million years ago (mya) the first cellular forms of life appeared on earth. The
mechanism of how non-cellular aggregates of giant macromolecules could evolve into cells with
membranous envelop is not known. Some of these cells had the ability to release O2. The reaction
could have been similar to the light reaction in photosynthesis where water is split with the help
of solar energy captured and channelised by appropriate light harvesting pigments.

Slowly single-celled organisms became multi-cellular life forms. By the time of 500 mya,

invertebrates were formed and active. Jawless fish probably evolved around 350 mya.
Sea weeds and few plants existed probably around 320 mya. We are told that the first organisms
that invaded land were plants. They were widespread on land when animals invaded land. Fish
with stout and strong fins could move on land and go back to water. This was about 350 mya. In
1938, a fish caught in South Africa happened to be a Coelacanth which was thought to be extinct.
These animals called lobefins evolved into the first amphibians that lived on both land and water.
There are no specimens of these left with us. However, these were ancestors of modern day
frogs and salamanders. The amphibians evolved into reptiles. They lay thick- shelled eggs

which do not dry up in sun unlike those of amphibians.

Again we only see their modern day descendents, the turtles, tortoises and crocodiles. In the next
200 millions years or so, reptiles of different shapes and sizes dominated on earth. Giant ferns
(pteridophytes) were present but they all fell to form coal deposits slowly. Some of these land
reptiles went back into water to evolve into fish like reptiles probably 200 mya (e.g.
Ichthyosaurs). The land reptiles were, of course, the dinosaurs. The biggest of them, i.e.,
Tyrannosaurus rex was about 20 feet in height and had huge fearsome dagger like teeth. About
65 mya, the dinosaurs suddenly disappeared from the earth. We do not know the true reason.
Some say climatic changes killed them. Some say most of them evolved into birds. The truth may

live in between. Small sized reptiles of that era still exist today.
The first mammals were like shrews. Their fossils are small sized. Mammals were viviparous and
protected their unborn young inside the mothers body. Mammals were more intelligent in sensing
and avoiding danger at least. When reptiles came down mammals took over this earth. There were
in South America mammals resembling horse, hippopotamus, bear, rabbit, etc.

Due to

continental drift, when South America joined North America, these animals were overridden by
North American fauna. Due to the same continental drift pouched mammals of Australia survived

because of lack of competition from any other mammal.

Lest we forget, some mammals live wholly in water. Whales, dolphins, seals and sea cows are
some examples. Evolution of horse, elephant, dog, etc., are special stories of evolution. You will
learn about these in higher classes. The most successful story is the evolution of man with
language skills and self-consciousness.

ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF MAN

About 15 mya, primates called Dryopithecus and Ramapithecus were existing. They were hairy
and

walked

like

gorillas

and

chimpanzees.

Ramapithecus

was

more

man-like

while

Dryopithecus was more ape-like. Few fossils of man-like bones have been discovered in
Ethiopia and Tanzania. These revealed hominid features leading to the belief that about 3-4 mya,
man-like primates walked in eastern Africa. They were probably not taller than 4 feet but
walked up right. Two mya, Australopithecines probably lived in East African grasslands.
Evidence shows they hunted with stone weapons but essentially ate fruit. Some of the bones
among the bones discovered were different. This creature was called the first human-like being the
hominid and was called Homo habilis. The brain capacities were between 650-800cc. They
probably did not eat meat. Fossils discovered in Java in 1891 revealed the next stage, i.e., Homo
erectus about 1.5 mya. Homo erectus had a large brain around 900cc. Homo erectus probably ate
meat. The Neanderthal man with a brain size of 1400cc lived in near east and central Asia
between 1,00,000-40,000 years back. They used hides to protect their body and buried their dead.
Homo sapiens arose in Africa and moved across continents and developed into distinct races.

During ice age between 75,000-10,000 years ago modern Homo sapiens arose.
Pre-historic cave art developed about 18,000 years ago.
Agriculture came around 10,000 years back and human settlements started. The rest of what
happened is part of human history of growth and decline of civilisations.

Strategies for enhancement in food production

Several new techniques like embryo transfer technology and tissue culture techniques are
going to play a pivotal role in further enhancing food production.

Animal husbandry

Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock. As such it is a vital
skill for farmers and is as much science as it is art. Animal husbandry deals with the care and
breeding of livestock like buffaloes, cows, pigs, horses, cattle, sheep, camels, goats, etc., that are
useful to humans. Extended, it includes poultry farming and fisheries. Fisheries include rearing,
catching, selling, etc., of fish, molluscs (shell-fish) and crustaceans (prawns, crabs, etc.).
Since time immemorial, animals like bees, silk-worm, prawns, crabs, fishes, birds, pigs, cattle,
sheep and camels have been used by humans for products like milk, eggs, meat, wool, silk, honey,

etc.
It is estimated that more then 70 per cent of the world livestock population is in India and China.
However, it is surprising to note that the contribution to the world farm produce is only 25 per cent,
i.e., the productivity per unit is very low. Hence, in addition to conventional practices of animal
breeding and care, newer technologies also have to be applied to achieve improvement in quality
and productivity.

Management of Farms and Farm Animals

A professional approach to what have been traditional practices of farm management gives the
much needed boost to our food production. Let us discuss some of the management procedures,
employed In various animal farm systems.

Dairy Farm Management

Dairying is the management of animals for milk and its products for human consumption. In dairy
farm management, we deal with processes and systems that increase yield and improve quality of
milk. Milk yield is primarily dependent on the quality of breeds in the farm. Selection of good
breeds having high yielding potential (under the climatic conditions of the area), combined with
resistance to diseases is very important. For the yield potential to be realised the cattle have to be
well looked after - they have to be housed well, should have adequate water and be maintained
disease free. The feeding of cattle should be carried out in a scientific manner - with special
emphasis on the quality and quantity of fodder. Besides, stringent cleanliness and hygiene (both of
the cattle and the handlers) are of paramount importance while milking, storage and transport of
the milk and its products. Nowadays, of course, much of these processes have become
mechanised, which reduces chance of direct contact of the produce with the handler. Ensuring
these stringent measures would of course, require regular inspections, with proper record keeping.
It would also help to identify and rectify the problems as early as possible. Regular visits by a

veterinary doctor would be mandatory.

You would probably find it interesting if you were to prepare a questionnaire on diverse aspects of
dairy keeping and then follow it up with a visit to a dairy farm in your locality and seek answers to
the questions.

Poultry Farm Management

Poultry is the class of domesticated fowl (birds) used for food or for their eggs. They typically
include chicken and ducks, and sometimes turkey and geese. The word poultry is often used to
refer to the meat of only these birds, but in a more general sense it may refer to the meat of other

birds too.
As in dairy farming, selection of disease free and suitable breeds, proper and safe farm conditions,
proper feed and water, and hygiene and health care are important components of poultry farm

management.
You may have seen TV news or read newspaper- reports about the bird flu virus which created a
scare in the country and drastically affected egg and chicken consumption. Find out more about it
and discuss whether the panic reaction was justfied. How can we prevent the spread of the flu in
case some chicken are infected?

Animal Breeding

Breeding of animals is an important aspect of animal husbandry. Animal breeding aims at

increasing the yield of animals and improving the desirable qualities of the produce. For what kind
of characters would we breed animals? Would the selection of characters differ with the choice of

animals?
What do we understand by the term breed? A group of animals related by descent and similar in
most characters like general appearance, features, size, configuration, etc., are said to belong to a

breed.
When breeding is between animals of the same breed it is called inbreeding, while crosses
between different breeds are called outbreeding.

Inbreeding

Inbreeding refers to the mating of more closely related individualswithin the same breed for

4-6 generations.
The breeding strategy is as follows - superior males and superior females of the same breed are
identified and mated in pairs. The progeny obtained from such matings are evaluated and superior
males and females among them are identified for further mating. A superior female, in the case of
cattle, is the cow or buffalo that produces more milk per lactation. On the other hand, a superior

male is the bull, which gives rise to superior progeny as compared to those of other males.
Improved breed of cattle (a) Jersey.
Improved breed of chickens (b) Leghorn.
Inbreeding increases homozygosity. Thus inbreeding is necessary if we want to evolve a

purelinein any animal.

Inbreeding exposes harmful recessive genesthat are eliminated by selection.
It also helps in accumulation of superior genes and elimination of less desirable genes.
Therefore, this approach, where there is selection at each step, increases the productivity of inbred

population.
However, continued inbreeding, especially close inbreeding, usually reduces fertility and even

productivity. This is called inbreeding depression.

Whenever this becomes a problem, selected animals of the breeding population should be mated
with unrelated superior animals of the same breed. This usually helps restore fertility and
yield.

Out-breeding

Out-breeding is the breeding of the unrelated animals, which may be between individuals of the
same breed (but having no common ancestors), or between different breeds (crossbreeding) or different species (inter-specific hybridisation).

Out-crossing

This is the practice of mating of animals within the same breed, but having no common

ancestors on either side of their pedigree up to 4-6 generations.

The offspring of such a mating is known as an out-cross.
It is the best breeding method for animals that are below average in productivity in milk
production, growth rate in beef cattle, etc.

A single outcross often helps to overcome inbreeding depression.

Cross-breeding

In this method, superior males of one breed are mated with superior females of another

breed.
Cross-breeding allows the desirable qualities of two different breeds to be combined.
The progeny hybrid animals may themselves be used for commercial production. Alternatively, they
may be subjected to some form of inbreeding and selection to develop new stable breeds that may

be superior to the existing breeds. Many new animal breeds have been developed by this approach.
Hisardale is a new breed of sheep developed in Punjab by crossing Bikaneri ewes and Marino
rams.

Interspecific hybridization

In this method, male and female animals of two different species are mated. In some cases, the
progeny may combine desirable features of both the parents, and may be of considerable economic

value, e.g., the mule. Do you know what cross leads to the production of the mule?
Controlled breeding experiments are carried out using artificial insemination. The semen is
collected from the male that is chosen as a parent and injected into the reproductive tract of the
selected female by the breeder. The semen may be used immediately or can be frozen and used at
a later date. It can also be transported in a frozen form to where the female is housed. In this way
desirable matings are carried. Artificial insemination helps us overcome several problems of normal

matings. Can you discuss and list some of them?

Often, the success rate of crossing mature male and female animals is fairly low even though

artificial insemination is carried out.

Ovulation Embryo Transfer Technology (MOET) is one such programme for herd improvement.
In this method, a cow is administered hormones, with FSH-like activity, to induce follicular
maturation and super ovulation - instead of one egg, which they normally yield per cycle, they
produce 6-8 eggs. The animal is either mated with an elite bull or artificially inseminated. The
fertilised eggs at 8-32 cells stages, are recovered non-surgically and transferred to surrogate
mothers. The genetic mother is available for another round of super ovulation. This technology has
been demonstrated for cattle, sheep, rabbits, buffaloes, mares, etc. High milk-yielding breeds of
females and high quality (lean meat with less lipid) meat-yielding bulls have been bred successfully
to increase herd size in a short time.

Bee-keeping

Bee-keeping or apiculture is the maintenance of hives of honeybees for the production of honey.
It has been an age-old cottage industry. Honey is a food of high nutritive value and also finds use
in the indigenous systems of medicine. Honeybee also produces beeswax, which finds many uses in
industry, such as in the preparation of cosmetics and polishes of various kinds. The increased

demand of honey has led to large-scale bee-keeping practices; it has become an established

income generating industry, whether practiced on a small or on a large scale.

Bee-keeping can be practiced in any area where there are sufficient bee pastures of some wild
shrubs, fruit orchards and cultivated crops. There are several species of honeybees which can be
reared. Of these, the most common species is Apisindica. Beehives can be kept in ones

courtyard, on the verandah of the house or even on the roof. Bee-keeping is not labour-intensive.
Bee-keeping though relatively easy does require some specialised knowledge and there are several
organisations that teach bee-keeping. The following points are important for successful beekeeping:

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Knowledge of the nature and habits of bees,

Selection of suitable location for keeping the beehives,
Catching and hiving of swarms (group of bees),
Management of beehives during different seasons, and
Handling and collection of honey and of beeswax. Bees are the pollinators of many of
our crop species (see chapter 2) such as sunflower, Brassica, apple and pear. Keeping
beehives in crop fields during flowering period increases pollination efficiency and
improves the yield-beneficial both from the point of view of crop yield and honey
yield.

Fisheries

Fishery is an industry devoted to the catching, processing or selling of fish, shellfish or other
aquatic animals. A large number of our population is dependent on fish, fish products and other
aquatic animals such as prawn, crab, lobster, edible oyster, etc., for food. Some of the freshwater
fishes which are very common include Catla, Rohuand common carp. Some of the marine fishes
that are eaten include - Hilsa, Sardines, Mackerel and Pomfrets. Find out what fishes are commonly

eaten in your area.

Fisheries has an important place in Indian economy. It provides income and employment to millions
of fishermen and farmers, particularly in the coastal states. For many, it is the only source of their
livelihood. In order to meet the increasing demands on fisheries, different techniques have been
employed to increase production. For example, through aquaculture and pisciculture we have been
able to increase the production of aquatic plants and animals, both fresh-water and marine. Find
out the difference between pisciculture and aquaculture. This has led to the development and
flourishing of the fishery industry, and it has brought a lot of income to the farmers in particular
and the country in general. We now talk about Blue Revolution as being implemented along the
same lines as Green Revolution.

PLANT BREEDING

Traditional farming can only yield a limited biomass, as food for humans and animals. Better
management practices and increase in acreage can increase yield, but only to a limited extent.
Plant breeding as a technology has helped increase yields to a very large extent. Who in India has
not heard of Green Revolution which was responsible for our country to not merely meet the

national requirements in food production but also helped us even to export it? Green revolution was
dependent to a large extent on plant breeding techniques for development of high-yielding and
disease resistant varieties in wheat, rice, maize, etc.
What is Plant Breeding?

Plant breeding is the purposeful manipulation of plant species in order to create desired plant types
that are better suited for cultivation, give better yields and are disease resistant. Conventional
plant breeding has been practiced for thousands of years, since the beginning of human civilisation;
recorded evidence of plant breeding dates back to 9,000-11,000 years ago. Many present-day
crops are the result of domestication in ancient times. Today, all our major food crops are derived
from domesticated varieties. Classical plant breeding involves crossing or hybridisation of pure
lines, followed by artificial selection to produce plants with desirable traits of higher yield, nutrition
and resistance to diseases. With advancements in genetics, molecular biology and tissue culture,

plant breeding is now increasingly being carried out by using molecular genetic tools.
If we were to list the traits or characters that the breeders have tried to incorporate into crop
plants, the first we would list would be increased crop yield and improved quality. Increased
tolerance to environmental stresses (salinity, extreme temperatures, drought), resistance to
pathogens (viruses, fungi and bacteria) and increased tolerance to insect pests would be on our list

too.
Plant breeding programmes are carried out in a systematic way worldwide-in government
institutions and commercial companies. The main steps in breeding a new genetic variety of a crop

are 1) Collection of variability: Genetic variability is the root of any breeding programme. In many crops
pre-existing genetic variability is available from wild relatives of the crop. Collection and preservation
of all the different wild varieties, species and relatives of the cultivated species (followed by their
evaluation for their characteristics) is a pre-requisite for effective exploitation of natural genes
available in the populations. The entire collection (of plants/seeds) having all the diverse alleles for all
genes in a given crop is called germplasm collection.
2) Evaluation and selection of parents: The germplasm is evaluated so as to identify plants with desirable
combination of characters. The selected plants are multiplied and used in the process of hybridisation.
Purelines are created wherever desirable and possible.
3) Cross hybridisation among the selected parents: The desired characters have very often to be
combined from two different plants (parents), for example high protein quality of one parent may need
to be combined with disease resistance from another parent. This is possible by cross hybridising the
two parents to produce hybrids that genetically combine the desired characters in one plant. This is a
very time-consuming and tedious process since the pollen grains from the desirable plant chosen as
male parent have to be collected and placed on the stigma of the flowers selected as female parent (In
chapter 2 details on how to make crosses have been described). Also, it is not necessary that the
hybrids do combine the desirable characters; usually only one in few hundred to a thousand crosses
shows the desirable combination.

4) Selection and testing of superior recombinants: This step consists of selecting, among the progeny of
the hybrids, those plants that have the desired character combination. The selection process is crucial
to the success of the breeding objective and requires careful scientific evaluation of the progeny. This
step yields plants that are superior to both of the parents (very often more than one superior progeny
plant may become available). These are self-pollinated for several generations till they reach a state of
uniformity (homozygosity?), so that the characters will not segregate in the progeny.
5) Testing, release and commercialisation of new cultivars: The newly selected lines are evaluated for
their yield and other agronomic traits of quality, disease resistance, etc. This evaluation is done by
growing these in the research fields and recording their performance under ideal fertiliser application
irrigation, and other crop management practices. The evaluation in research fields is followed by
testing the materials in farmers fields, for at least three growing seasons at several locations in the
country, representing all the agroclimatic zones where the crop is usually grown. The material is
evaluated in comparison to the best available local crop cultivar - a check or reference cultivar.
India is mainly an agricultural country. Agriculture accounts for approximately 33 per cent of Indias
GDP and employs nearly 62 per cent of the population. After Indias independence, one of the main
challenges facing the country was that of producing enough food for the increasing population. As
only limited land is fit for cultivation, India has to strive to increase yields per unit area from
existing farm land. The development of several high yielding varieties of wheat and rice in the mid1960s, as a result of various plant breeding techniques led to dramatic increase in food production

in our country. This phase is often referred to as the Green Revolution.

Wheat and Rice: During the period 1960 to 2000, wheat production increased from 11 million tones
to 75 million tonnes while rice production went up from 35 million tonnes to 89.5 million tonnes.
This was due to the development of semi-dwarf varieties of wheat and rice. Nobel laureate
Norman E. Borlaug, at International Centre for Wheat and Maize Improvement in Mexico,
developed semi-dwarf wheat. In 1963, several varieties such as Sanalika and Kalyan Sana, which
were high yielding and disease resistant, were introduced all over the wheat-growing belt of India.
Semi-dwarf rice varieties were derived from IR-8, (developed at International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI), Philippines) and Taichung Native-1 (from Taiwan). The derivatives were introduced

in 1966. Later better-yielding semidwarf varieties Jaya and Ratna were developed in India.
Sugar cane: Saccharumbarberi was originally grown in north India, but had poor sugar content
and yield. Tropical canes grown in south India Saccharumofficinarum had thicker stems and
higher sugar content but did not grow well in north India. These two species were successfully
crossed to get sugar cane varieties combining the desirable qualities of high yield, thick stems, high

sugar and ability to grow in the sugar cane areas of north India.
Millets: Hybrid maize, jowar and bajra have been successfully developed in India. Hybrid breeding
have led to the development of several high yielding varieties resistant to water stress.

Plant Breeding for Disease Resistance

A wide range of fungal, bacterial and viral pathogens, affect the yield of cultivated crop species,
especially in tropical climates. Crop losses can often be significant, up to 20-30 per cent, or
sometimes even total. In this situation, breeding and development of cultivars resistant to disease

enhances food production. This also helps reduce the dependence on use of fungicides and
bacteriocides. Resistance of the host plant is the ability to prevent the pathogen from causing
disease and is determined by the genetic constitution of the host plant. Before breeding is
undertaken, it is important to know about the causative organism and the mode of transmission.
Some of the diseases caused by fungi are rusts, e.g., brown rust of wheat, red rot of
sugarcane and late blight of potato; by bacteria-black rot of crucifers; and by viruses

tobacco mosaic, turnip mosaic, etc.

Methods of breeding for disease resistance: Breeding is carried out by the conventional breeding
techniques (described earlier) or by mutation breeding. The conventional method of breeding for
disease resistance is that of hybridisation and selection. Its steps are essentially identical to those
for breeding for any other agronomic characters such as high yield. The various sequential steps
are: screening germplasm for resistance sources, hybridisation of selected parents, selection and

evaluation of the hybrids and testing and release of new varieties.

Some crop varieties bred by hybridisation and selection, for disease resistance to fungi, bacteria
and viral diseases are released (Table 9.1).

Conventional breeding is often constrained by the availability of limited number of disease

resistance genes that are present and identified in various crop varieties or wild relatives. Inducing
mutations in plants through diverse means and then screening the plant materials for resistance
sometimes leads to desirable genes being identified. Plants having these desirable characters can
then be either multiplied directly or can be used in breeding. Other breeding methods that are used

are selection amongst somaclonal variants and genetic engineering.

Mutation is the process by which genetic variations are created through changes in the
base sequence within genes (see Chapter 5) resulting in the creation of a new character
or trait not found in the parental type. It is possible to induce mutations artificially through use
of chemicals or radiations (like gamma radiations), and selecting and using the plants that have
the desirable character as a source in breeding - this process is called mutation breeding.

In mung bean, resistance to yellow mosaic virus and powdery mildew were induced by

mutations.
Several wild relatives of different cultivated species of plants have been shown to have certain
resistant characters but have very low yield. Hence, there is a need to introduce the resistant
genes into the high-yielding cultivated varieties. Resistance to yellow mosaic virus in bhindi
(Abelmoschusesculentus) was transferred from a wild species and resulted in a new variety of A.

esculentus called Parbhanikranti.

All the above examples involve sources of resistance genes that are in the same crop species,
which has to be bred for disease resistance, or in a related wild species. Transfer of resistance
genes is achieved by sexual hybridisation between the target and the source plant followed by
selection.

Plant Breeding for Developing Resistance to Insect Pests

Another major cause for large scale destruction of crop plant and crop produce is insect and pest
infestation. Insect resistance in host crop plants may be due to morphological, biochemical or
physiological characteristics. Hairy leaves in several plants are associated with resistance to insect
pests, e.g, resistance to jassids in cotton and cereal leaf beetle in wheat. In wheat, solid stems
lead to non-preference by the stem sawfly and smooth leaved and nectar-less cotton varieties do
not attract bollworms. High aspartic acid, low nitrogen and sugar content in maize leads to

resistance to maize stem borers.

Breeding methods for insect pest resistance involve the same steps as those for any other
agronomic trait such as yield or quality and are as discussed above. Sources of resistance genes
may be cultivated varieties, germplasm collections of the crop or wild relatives.

Plant Breeding for Improved Food Quality

More than 840 million people in the world do not have adequate food to meet their daily food and
nutritional requirements. A far greater number- three billion people - suffer from micronutrient,
protein and vitamin deficiencies or hidden hunger because they cannot afford to buy enough
fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish and meat. Diets lacking essential micronutrients - particularly iron,
vitamin A, iodine and zinc - increase the risk for disease, reduce lifespan and reduce mental

abilities.
Biofortification - breeding crops with higher levels of vitamins and minerals, or higher protein and
healthier fats - is the most practical means to improve public health.
Breeding for improved nutritional quality is undertaken with the objectives of improving (i)
Protein content and quality;
(ii)
Oil content and quality;
(iii)
Vitamin content; and
(iv)
Micronutrient and mineral content.
In 2000, maize hybrids that had twice the amount of the amino acids, lysine and tryptophan,
compared to existing maize hybrids were developed. Wheat variety, Atlas 66, having a high
protein content, has been used as a donor for improving cultivated wheat. It has been possible to

develop an iron-fortified rice variety containing over five times as much iron as in commonly

consumed varieties.
The Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi has also released several
vegetable crops that are rich in vitamins and minerals, e.g., vitamin A enriched carrots,
spinach, pumpkin; vitamin C enriched bitter gourd, bathua, mustard, tomato; iron and
calcium enriched spinach and bathua; and protein enriched beans - broad, lablab, French
and garden peas.

SINGLE CELL PROTEIN (SCP)

Conventional agricultural production of cereals, pulses, vegetables, fruits, etc., may not be able to
meet the demand of food at the rate at which human and animal population is increasing. The shift
from grain to meat diets also creates more demand for cereals as it takes 3-10 Kg of grain to
produce 1 Kg of meat by animal farming. Can you explain this statement in the light of your
knowledge offood chains? More than 25 per cent of human population is suffering from hunger and
malnutrition. One of the alternate sources of proteins for animal and human nutrition is

Single Cell Protein (SCP).

Microbes are being grown on an industrial scale as source of good protein. Microbes like
Spirulinacan be grown easily on materials like waste water from potato processing plants
(containing starch), straw, molasses, animal manure and even sewage, to produce large quantities
and can serve as food rich in protein, minerals, fats, carbohydrate and vitamins. Incidentally such

utilisation also reduces environmental pollution.

It has been calculated that a 250 Kg cow produces 200 g of protein per day. In the same period,
250g of a micro-organism like Methylophilusmethylotrophus, because of its high rate of
biomass production and growth, can be expected to produce 25 tonnes of protein. The fact that
mushrooms are eaten by many people and large scale mushroom culture is a growing Industry
makes it believable that microbes too would become acceptable as food.

TISSUE CULTURE

As traditional breeding techniques failed to keep pace with demand and to provide sufficiently fast
and efficient systems for crop improvement, another technology called tissue culture got
developed. What does tissue culture mean? It was learnt by scientists, during 1950s, that whole
plants could be regenerated from explants, i.e., any part of a plant taken out and grown
in a test tube, under sterile conditions in special nutrient media. This capacity to
generate a whole plant from any cell/explant is called totipotency. You will learn how to
accomplish this in higher classes. It is important to stress here that the nutrient medium must
provide a carbon source such as sucrose and also inorganic salts, vitamins, amino acids and growth
regulators like auxins, cytokinins etc. By application of these methods it is possible to achieve
propagation of a large number of plants in very short durations. This method of producing
thousands of plants through tissue culture is called micro-propagation. Each of these plants will
be genetically identical to the original plant from which they were grown, i.e., they are somaclones.

Many important food plants like tomato, banana, apple, etc., have been produced on commercial
scale using this method. Try to visit a tissue culture laboratory with your teacher to better

understand and appreciate the process.

Another important application of the method is the recovery of healthy plants from diseased
plants. Although the plant is infected with a virus, the meristem (apical and axillary) is free of
virus. Hence, one can remove the meristem and grow it in vitro to obtain virus-free plants.

Scientists have succeeded in culturing meristems of banana, sugarcane, potato, etc.

Scientists have even isolated single cells from plants and after digesting their cell walls have been
able to isolate naked protoplasts (surrounded by plasma membranes). Isolated protoplasts from
two different varieties of plants - each having a desirable character - can be fused to get hybrid
protoplasts, which can be further grown to form a new plant. These hybrids are called somatic
hybrids while the process is called somatic hybridisation. Imagine a situation when a protoplast
of tomato is fused with that of potato, and then they are grown - to form new hybrid plants
combining tomato and potato characteristics. Well, this has been achieved - resulting in formation
of tomato; unfortunately this plant did not have all the desired combination of characteristics for its
commercial utilisation.

SUMMARY

Animal husbandry is the practice of taking care and breeding domestic animals by applying
scientific principles. The ever-increasing demand of food from animals and animal products both in
terms of quality and quantity has been met by good animal husbandry practices. These practices
include (i) management of farm and farm animals, and (ii) animal breeding. In view of the high
nutritive value of honey and its medicinal importance, there has been a remarkable growth in the
practice of bee-keeping or apiculture. Fishery is another flourishing industry meeting the ever-

increasing demand for fish, fish products and other aquatic foods.
Plant breeding may be used to create varieties, which are resistant to pathogens and to insect
pests. This increases the yield of the food. This method has also been used to increase the protein
content of the plant foods and thereby enhance the quality of food. In India, several varieties of
different crop plants have been produced. All these measures enhance the production of food.
Techniques of tissue culture and somatic hybridisation offer vast potential for manipulation of plants
in vitro to produce new varieties.

Nutrition

Prelims GS 2014
Consider the following pairs:
Vitamin Deficiency

Disease

1. Vitamin C

Scurvy

2. Vitamin D

Rickets

3. Vitamin E

Night blindness

Which of the pairs given aboveis/ are correctly matched?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 3 only
(c) 1, 2 and 3
(d) None
Vitamin A keeps our skin and eyes healthy.
Vitamin C helps body to fight against many diseases.
Vitamin D helps our body to use calcium for bones and teeth.
Dietary fibres are also known as roughage. Roughage is mainly provided by plant products in our
foods. Whole grains and pulses, potatoes, fresh fruits and vegetables are main sources of roughage.
Roughage does not provide any nutrient to our body, but is an essential component of our food and

adds to its bulk. This helps our body get rid of undigested food.
Vitamin C gets easily destroyed by heat during cooking.

Deficiency diseases

A person may be getting enough food to eat, but sometimes the food may not contain a particular

nutrient. If this continues over a long period of time, the person may suffer from its deficiency.
Deficiency of one or more nutrients can cause diseases or disorders in our body. Diseases that occur
due to lack of nutrients over a long period are called deficiency diseases.
1. Name the following:
(a) the nutrients which mainly give energy to our body.
(b) The nutrients that are needed for the growth and maintenance of our body.
(c) A vitamin required for maintaining good eyesight.
(d) A mineral that is required for keeping our bones healthy.
2. ______________ is caused by deficiency of Vitamin D.

3. Deficiency of ______________ causes a disease known as beriberi.

4. Deficiency of Vitamin C causes a disease known as ______________.
5. Night blindness is caused due to deficiency of ____________ in our food.
The materials, through which objects can be seen, but not clearly, are known as translucent.
The head and tail of the fish are smaller than the middle portion of the body the body tapers at both

ends. This body shape is called streamlined.

Snakes slither on the ground by looping sideways.

Match the following

1.
2.
3.
4.

Snake
Frog
Snail
Olive Ridly
e.Swim and

a. Crawl
b. Leap
c. Slither
d. Swim
Crawl

Codes:
a.
b.
c.
d.

1-a, 2-b, 3-c,

1-c, 2-b, 3-a,
1-c, 2-b, 3-a,
1-c, 2-b, 3-e,

4-e
4-e
4-d
4-a

Fiber to Fabric

Like us, the hairy skin of the sheep has two types of fibres that form its fleece: (i) the coarse

beard hair, and (ii) the fine soft under-hair close to the skin.
The fine hair provides the fibres for making wool. Some breeds of sheep possess only fine underhair. Their parents are specially chosen to give birth to sheep which have only soft underhair. This
process of selecting parents for obtaining special characters in their offspring, such as soft under
hair in sheep, is termed selective breeding.

Animal fibres wool and silk

Angora wool is obtained from angora goats, found in hilly regions such as Jammu and Kashmir.
The under fur of Kashmiri goat is soft. It is woven into fine shawls called Pashmina shawls.
The fur (hair) on the body of camels is also used as wool. Llama and Alpaca, found in South
America, also yield wool

Processing fibres into wool

The wool which is used for knitting sweaters or for weaving shawls is the finished product of a long

process, which involves the following steps:

Step I: The fleece of the sheep along with a thin layer of skin is removed from its body. This
process is called shearing.
Usually, hair is removed during the hot weather. This enables sheep to survive without their
protective coat of hair. The hair provides woolen fibres. Woolen fibres are then processed to obtain
woolen yarn. Shearing does not hurt the sheep just as it does not hurt when you get a haircut or

your father shaves his beard. Do you know why? The uppermost layer of the skin is dead.
Step II: The sheared skin with hair is thoroughly washed in tanks to remove grease, dust and dirt.

This is calledscouring. Nowadays scouring is done by machines

Step III: After scouring, sorting is done. The hairy skin is sent to a factory where hair of different

textures are separated or sorted.

Step IV: The small fluffy fibres, called burrs, are picked out from the hair. These are the same burrs
which sometimes appear on your sweaters. The fibres are scoured again and dried. This is the wool

ready to be drawn into fibres.

Step V: The fibres can be dyed in various colours, as the natural fleece of sheep and goats is black,

brown or white.
Step VI: Step VI: The fibres are straightened, combed and rolled into yarn. The longer fibres are
made into wool for sweaters and the shorter fibres are spun and woven into woolen cloth.

Occupational hazard

Wool industry is an important means of livelihood for many people in our country. But sorters job
is risky as sometimes they get infected by a bacterium, anthrax, which causes a fatal blood
disease called sorters disease. Such risks faced by workers in any industry are called
occupational hazards.

Anthrax

caused by the bacteriumBacillus anthracis.

Most forms of the disease are lethal
it affects mostly animals
Animals can transmit the disease to humans
humans cannot spread the disease between each other
cured by antibiotic treatment.
B. anthracis can form dormant endospores (often referred to as "spores" for short, but not to be

confused with fungal spores) that are able to survive in harsh conditions
When spores are inhaled, ingested, or come into contact with a skin lesion on a host, they may

become reactivated and multiply rapidly.

Owing to the hardiness of anthrax spores, and their ease of production in vitro, they are

extraordinarily well suited to use (in powdered and aerosol form) as biological weapons.
French scientist Louis Pasteur developed the first effective vaccine for anthrax
Anthrax causes skin, lung, and bowel disease and can be deadly.

SILK

Silk fibres are also animal fibres. Silkworms spin the silk fibres. The rearing of silkworms for
obtaining silk is called sericulture.

Life history of silk moth

The female silk moth lays eggs, from which hatch larvae which are called caterpillars or
silkworms. They grow in size and when the caterpillar is ready to enter the next stage of its life
history called pupa, it first weaves a net to hold itself. Then it swings its head from side to side in
the form of the figure of eight (8). During these movements of the head, the caterpillar secretes
fibre made of a Protein which hardens on exposure to air and becomes silk fibre. Soon the
caterpillar completely covers itself by silk fibres. This covering is known as cocoon. The further

development of the moth continues inside the cocoon

The most common silk moth is the mulberry silk moth. The silk fibre from the cocoon of this

moth is soft, lustrous and elastic and can be dyed in beautiful colours.
tassarsilk, moogasilk, kosasilk, etc., are few other examples
In India, women are significantly involved in various kinds of industries related to silk production.
These are rearing of silkworms, reeling of silk from cocoons and processing of raw silk into fabrics.

By their enterprise, they contribute to the nations economy.

China leads the world in silk production. India also ranks among the leading silk producing
countries.

From cocoon to silk

For obtaining silk, moths are reared and their cocoons are collected to get silk threads.
Rearing silkworms: A female silk moth lays hundreds of eggs at a time. The eggs are stored carefully
on strips of cloth or paper and sold to silkworm farmers. The farmers keep eggs under hygienic
conditions and under suitable conditions of temperature and humidity. The eggs are warmed to a
suitable temperature for the larvae to hatch from eggs. This is done when mulberry trees bear a fresh
crop of leaves. The larvae, called caterpillars or silkworms, eat day and night and increase enormously

in size
The worms are kept in clean bamboo trays along with freshly chopped mulberry leaves. After 25 to 30
days, the caterpillars stop eating and move to a tiny chamber of bamboo in the tray to spin cocoons.
Small racks or twigs may be provided in the trays to which cocoons get attached. The caterpillar or

silkworm spins the cocoon inside which develops the silk moth.
Processing silk: A pile of cocoons is used for obtaining silk fibres. The cocoons are kept under the sun
or boiled or exposed to steam. The silk fibres separate out. The process of taking out threads from the
cocoon for use as silk is called reeling the silk. Reeling is done in special machines, which unwind the
threads or fibres of silk from the cocoon. Silk fibres are then spun into silk threads, which are woven

into silk cloth by weavers.

Silk fibres are made of a protein.
Scientific names of mulberry is Morus Alba and silk warm is Bombyxmori

Agriculture

Kharif Crops: The crops which are sown in the rainy season are called kharif crops. The rainy
season in India is generally from June to September. Paddy, maize, soyabean, groundnut,

cotton, etc., are kharif crops.

Rabi Crops: The crops grown in the winter season are called rabi crops. Their time period is
generally from October to March. Examples of rabi crops are wheat, gram, pea, mustard and

linseed.
One of the most important tasks in agriculture is to turn the soil and loosen it. This allows the roots
to penetrate deep into the soil. The loose soil allows the roots to breathe easily even when they go

deep into the soil. Why does the loosening of soil allow the roots to breathe easily?
The loosened soil helps in the growth of earthworms and microbes present in the soil. These
organisms are friends of the farmer since they further turn and loosen the soil and add humus to it.

But why does the soil need to be turned and loosened?

Since only a few centimetres of the top layer of soil supports plant growth, turning and loosening of

soil brings the nutrient-rich soil to the top so that plants can use these nutrients.
Fertilisers are chemical substances which are rich in a particular nutrient. How are these different
from manure? Fertilisers are produced in factories. Some examples of fertilisers are urea,
ammonium

sulphate,

sulphur

phosphate,

potash,

NPK

(Nitrogen,

Phosphorus,

Potassium).
The use of manure improves soil texture as well as its water retaining capacity. It replenishes the

soil with all the nutrients.

Another method of replenishing the soil with nutrients is through crop rotation. This can be done
by growing different crops alternately. Earlier, farmers in northern India used to grow legumes as
fodder in one season and wheat in the next season. This helped in the replenishment of the soil

with nitrogen.
In the previous classes, you have learnt about Rhizobium bacteria. These are present in the

nodules of the roots of leguminous plants. They fix atmospheric nitrogen.

Special festivals associated with the harvest season are Pongal (TN) Makar Sankranti (whole
of India and Nepal), Baisakhi (Punjab), Holi, Diwali, Nabanya(West Bengal) and Bihu
(Assam)