Eukaryotes: "Are organisms whose cells contain complex structures enclosed within membranes. The membrane bound nucleus is the most distinct difference between eukaryote and prokaryotes. Eukaryotes are large and complex; they contain other membrane bound organelles such as mitochondria, chloroplasts, and the glogi apparatus. "(wikipedia) Eukaryotes can reproduce asexually and sexually.
Backgrounds(definitions):
Fungus: "A eukaryotic organism that includes yeasts, and molds. Fungi are separate from plants, animals and bacteria. The biggest difference is that their cell walls are made of chitin instead of cellulose."(wikipedia)
Yeasts: "Yeasts are Eukaryotic micro-organisms that are part of the Fungi kingdom. There are about 1,500 species that have been named at this time. They usually reproduce asexually through budding. Yeasts are unicellular organisms but some can turn multicellular when during the budding process the cells get connected in a string creating multicelluar yeast instead of unicellular yeast." (Wikipedia)
Fungus: "A eukaryotic organism that includes yeasts, and molds. Fungi are separate from plants, animals and bacteria. The biggest difference is that their cell walls are made of chitin instead of cellulose."(wikipedia)
Yeasts: "Yeasts are Eukaryotic micro-organisms that are part of the Fungi kingdom. There are about 1,500 species that have been named at this time. They usually reproduce asexually through budding. Yeasts are unicellular organisms but some can turn multicellular when during the budding process the cells get connected in a string creating multicelluar yeast instead of unicellular yeast." (Wikipedia)
Molds: "Molds reproduce through small spores, which may contain a single nucleus or be multinucleate. Mold spores can be asexual or sexual; many species can produce both types. Mold spores may remain airborne indefinitely, may cling to clothing or fur, or may be able to survive extremes of temperature and pressure."(wikipedia)
Phylum: Ascomycota is the largest phylum of fungi. This species is known as the "sac fungi" reproducing non-motile spores.
Class: There are two main classes, euascomycetes which have fruiting structures and hemiascomycetes which are without the fruiting structures. I chose a species from the hemiascomycetes. Most hemiascomycetes are microscopic and unicellular.
Species: I chose the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae, these yeasts are among the most important fungi. I chose this species because once I found that this is yeast commonly used by bakers and brewers I wanted to research it a little more thoroughly. S. cerecisiae metabolizes glucose through fermentation. It gives bread its light texture through the formation of carbon dioxide bubbles in bread dough after it is baked. What makes this species interesting is how when the conditions are changed just a little bit an entirely different product is the result. For example when baking the bread the ethanol and carbon dioxide are baked out but these ingredients are retained when fermenting yeast into beer. So just one mistake in the kitchen could make your baking skills go from bad to worse just like that.
S. cerevisiae is small and has a short generation time. This makes it a great specimen for research because it is cheap, easy to culture and easily grown.
Phylum: Zygomycota is a phylum of fungi. They are found living in soil or on decaying plant or animal material.
Species: Rhizopus stolonifer is the black bread mold. It is found and noticed most commonly on bread and soft fruits such as bananas as the black discolorations. This species is common to many human couples in that opposites attract. R. stolonifer grows rapidly between 15-30 degrees Celsius. I chose this species because I have personally seen it in my life on my bread and bananas, now I know its real name!
Phylum: Glomeromycota recognized in the fungi kingdom. They are usually aroundcolonized plant roots and reproduce asexually.
Class: Glomeromycetes are strictly terrestrial; they associate with plant roots and are very crucial to the plant world meaning they are very important to us.
Species: Glomus intraradices are entirely asexual. Spores are produced at the tips of hyphae. The fungus then penetrates the root and grows. "Inside the root, the fungus forms arbuscules, which are highly branched hyphal structures that serve as sites of nutrient exchange with the plant."(wikapedia) G. intraradices colonization peaks earlier than many of the other fungi in the Glomus genus.
Phylum: Basidiomycota is in the kingdom Fungi. They are composed of hyphae that reproduce sexually, although some can reproduce asexually.
Class: Basidiomycetes produce beautiful fruiting structures that reproduce sexually. They include puffballs, mushrooms, and bracket fungi found on trees and fallen logs in damp forests.
Species: Ganoderma applanatum is a type of mushroom referred to as shelf mushrooms that can produce as many as 4.5 trillion basidiospores in one growing season. Their bradiospores are double walled. They grow in tropical regions usually from the trunks of living or dead trees. They can be with or without stems and they are relatively large in size. (Dzialowski, 2008)
Phylum: Chytridiomycota is a division of the fungi kingdom. They are aquatic microorganisms.
Class: Chytridiomycetes have cell walls that consist mostly of chitin. They are the only fungi that have flagella at any life cycle phase. They reproduce sexually or asexually.
Species: Allomyces macrogynus is a water mold found worldwide in warmer areas. This fungus exhibits true alternation of generations. For reproduction a haploid zoospre develops to form a multicellular haploid mycelium, which produces female and male offspring. Mitosis results in the formation of haploid gametes, each with a single nucleus.
Algae: "are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many distinct organs found in land plants."(Dzialowski, 2008)
Phylum: Phaeophyta are brown in color, their cell wall is made of cellulose. They are multicellular, store carbohydrates and reproduce sexually.
Class: Phaeophyceae, to us is referred to as brown algae. It is a large group of algae, and includes seaweeds of colder water. They are important source of food in the sea and are crucial to their habitat.
Species: Macrocystis pyrifera also known as giant kelp. It is common along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. It grows in dense strands, creating a food source and shelter for sea creatures. It is useful to humans because we can harvest it for iodine, potassium and other minerals. M. pyrifera is the largest of all algae. It is one of the fastest growing organisms on earth. I found this species interesting because of its size, rate of growth and because I have personally been exposed to kelp, making it more fun to find out about.
Phylum: Rhodophyta is red in color, the cell wall is made of cellulose, most are multicellular, and they reproduce sexually.
Class: Florideophyceae
Species: Atractophora hypnoides is found in the British Isles, France, and some Atlantic Islands. It is attached to rock or other algae by small down growing filaments. The short filaments grow irregularly in a diffuse manner.
Phylum: Chlorophyta is green in color, the cell wall is made of cellulose, it is both unicellular and multicellular, sexually reproduced, and stores glucose polymer.
Class: Chlorophyceae are one of the classes of green algae distinguished mainly on the basis of ultra-structural morphology. They are usually green due to the dominance of pigments chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b. Most of the members have one or more storage bodies called Pyrenoids located in the chloroplast. Green algae usually have a rigid cell wall made up of an inner layer of cellulose and outer layer of pectose.
Species: Chlamydomonas nivalis is snow algae; it has a reddish color, ans smells like watermelon. This type of snow is common in the alpine and coastal regions all over during the summer. This species is a cold loving species and thrives in freezing waters hence that it is red snow. The carotenoid pigment protects the chloroplast from UV radiation and absorbs heat. The algae gets its water from the snow when it melts. In the winter, when snow covers it the algae is dormant. In spring, nutrients, more light and water, stimulate growth. This species is interesting because I have never seen red snow and now I will be looking out for it next time I am in the snow.
Phylum: Diatom is brown in color, its cell wall is made of pectin and silica, it is unicellular, and reproduces sexually.
Class: Bacillariophyceae
Species: Chaetoceros furcellatus is found in the Barents sea. Its cells are linked into large chains."It is identified by its resting spores which occur in pairs that are fused to the basal plate."(wikipedia)
Protozoa: "The protozoa are one-celled animals and are the smallest of all animals. Most can only be seen under a microscope. They breathe, move, and reproduce like multicelled animals. They live in water or at least where its damp. Animals in this group include the paramecium, the euglena, and the ameba."(wikipedia)
Phylum: Cilophora all have cilia in at least one stage, they have two different types of nuclei, micronucleus for reproduction which happens asexually and sexually and macronucleus for cell regulation. Food vacuoles are formed through phagocytosis and their contents are digested and broken down small enough to diffuse through the membrane of the vacuole into the cell.
Class: Olgohymenophorea is a large class of ciliate protozoa. This class has a groove considered the mouth. The mouth has its own cilia kinda like teeth. They are different from the cilia on the body, because on the body it is dense. The cilia are used by sweeping other smaller microorganisms into their mouth.
Species: Trichodina pediculus is common on the skin of adult fish. It is disc shaped. They are explained by the presence of a ring that gives support to the cell and allows sticking to surfaces including fish tissue. They have a simple direct life cycle. They reproduce through binary fission.
Phylum: Archamoebae are a group of amoebozoa that lack mitochondria this it what makes it remarkable. Most have a single nucleus and flagellum. Reproduces through binary fission, and uses pseudopodia for feeding and motility.
Class: no class
Species: Endolimax nana nuclei have a large endosome and small amounts of chromatin or none at all. It is found in vertebrate and invertebrates, found in intestines of humans. Cysts are small, and have a spherical shape. Mature cysts contain four nuclei; immature cysts are rarely seen.
Phylum: Euglenozoa are a large group flagellate. They are unicellular, flagellated in pairs. They are free living and reproduce asexually.
Class: Euglenoidea are mostly found in organic rich freshwater.. Many have chloroplasts and produce energy through photosynthesis, but others feed by phagocytosis.
Species: The body of Euglena anabaena is spindle-shaped, this species is covered by an elastic membrane. Many species of Euglena are able to do a wiggle like motion. Something else interesting about the species E. anabaena is that it contains a center thst contains the enzyme that catalyzes the reduction of carbon dioxide to glucose for energy.
