describe the common features shown by eukaryotic organisms: plants, animals, fungi
Plants: these are multicellular organisms; their cells contain chloroplasts and are able
to carry out photosynthesis; their cells have cellulose cell walls; they store
carbohydrates as starch or sucrose. Examples include flowering plants, such as a
cereal (for example, maize), and a herbaceous legume (for example, peas or beans).
Animals: these are multicellular organisms; their cells do not contain chloroplasts and
are not able to carry out photosynthesis; they have no cell walls; they usually have
nervous co-ordination and are able to move from one place to another; they often
store carbohydrate as glycogen. Examples include mammals (for example, humans)
and insects (for example, housefly and mosquito).
Fungi: these are organisms that are not able to carry out photosynthesis; their body
is usually organised into a mycelium made from thread-like structures called hyphae,
which contain many nuclei; some examples are single-celled; their cells have walls
made of chitin; they feed by extracellular secretion of digestive enzymes onto food
material and absorption of the organic products; this is known as saprotrophic
nutrition; they may store carbohydrate as glycogen. Examples include Mucor, which
has the typical fungal hyphal structure, and yeast, which is single-celled.
Protoctists: these are microscopic single-celled organisms. Some, like Amoeba, that
live in pond water, have features like an animal cell, while others, like Chlorella, have
chloroplasts and are more like plants. A pathogenic example is Plasmodium,
responsible for causing malaria.