Class 11 Biology Unit I – Diversity in the Living World

Chapter 2: Biological Classification

History of Classification of Organisms
Aristotle
• Aristotle was the first to attempt a scientific basis of classification.
• He used simple morphological characters to classify plants into
trees, shrubs, and herbs.
• He also divided animals into two groups, those which had red blood
and those that did not.
Figure 1. Aristotle
Carl Linnaeus
• Carl Linnaeus devised a two-kingdom system of classification where
organisms were grouped into Plantae and Animalia kingdoms.
• This system did not distinguish between the eukaryotes and
prokaryotes, unicellular and multicellular organisms, and
photosynthetic (green algae) and non-photosynthetic (fungi)
organisms.
Figure 2. Linnaeus
Robert Harding Whittaker
• In 1969, R.H. Whittaker proposed a five-kingdom classification
where organisms were grouped into Monera, Protista, Fungi,
Plantae, and Animalia.
• The main criteria for classification include cell structure, body
organization, mode of nutrition, reproduction, and phylogenetic
Figure 3. Whittaker
relationships.
The Three Domain System
• The three-domain system, developed by Carl Woese and others,
divides the Kingdom Monera into two domains (Archaea and
Bacteria), leaving the remaining eukaryotic kingdoms in the third
domain (Eukaryota).
• It proposes a six-kingdom classification. Figure 4. Woese
Characters Monera Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia
Cell type Prokaryotic Eukaryotic Eukaryotic Eukaryotic Eukaryotic
Noncellulosic
Present with Present
Cell wall (Polysaccharide + Present in some Absent
chitin (cellulose)
amino acid)
Nuclear
Absent Present Present Present Present
membrane
Body Multicellular / Tissue/organ/
Cellular Cellular Tissue / organ
organization loose tissue organ system
Autotrophic
Autotrophic Heterotrophic
(chemosynthetic and Heterotrophic
Mode of (Photosynthetic) Autotrophic (Holozoic,
photosynethtic) and (Saprophytic /
nutrition and (Photosynthetic) Saprophytic,
Hetero (saprophytic / Parasitic)
Heterotrophic etc.)
parasitic)

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2.1. Kingdom Monera

• Bacteria are the sole members of the Kingdom Monera.
• They are the most abundant microorganisms.
• They live in extreme habitats such as hot springs, deserts, snow, and deep oceans.
• Bacteria can be autotrophic (photosynthetic/chemosynthetic) or heterotrophic.
• Bacteria are grouped under four categories based on their shape:

Coccus (pl. cocci) Bacillus (pl. bacilli) Vibrium (pl. vibria) Sprillum (pl.spirilla)
spherical-shaped rod-shaped comma-shaped spiral-shaped
e.g. Streptococcus e.g. Lactobacillus e.g. Vibrio cholerae e.g. Spirillum
volutans

Figure 5. Streptococcus Figure 6. Lactobacillus Figure 7. Vibrio cholerae Figure 8. Spirillum volutans

2.1.1. Archaebacteria
• Archaebacteria live in some of the harshest habitats, such as extreme salty areas
(halophiles), hot springs (thermoacidophiles), and marshy areas (methanogens).
• They differ from other bacteria in having a different cell wall structure, which is
responsible for their survival in extreme conditions.
• Methanogens are present in the gut of several ruminant animals (cows, buffaloes,
etc.) and they are responsible for the production of methane (biogas) from the dung
of these animals.
2.1.2. Eubacteria (or ‘true bacteria’)
• Eubacteria are characterized by the presence of a rigid cell wall and if motile, a
flagellum.
• Based on mode of nutrition, they can be classified into:
Photosynthetic autotrophic bacteria
• The cyanobacteria (also referred to as blue-green algae)
have chlorophyll a – like green plants – and are
photosynthetic autotrophs.
• The cyanobacteria are unicellular, colonial or filamentous,
freshwater/marine or terrestrial algae.
• The colonies are generally surrounded by gelatinous sheath.
• They often bloom in polluted water bodies.
• Some of these organisms can fix atmospheric nitrogen in Figure 9. Nostoc
specialized cells called heterocysts, e.g. Nostoc and
Anabaena.

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Chemosynthetic autotrophic bacteria

• Chemosynthetic autotrophic bacteria oxidize various inorganic substances like
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.
• They are helpful in making curd from milk (Lactobacillus), production of
antibiotics (e.g. Bacitracin produced by Bacillus subtilis), fixing nitrogen in legume
roots, etc.
• Some are pathogens causing damage to human beings, crops, farm animals, and
pets.
• Cholera (caused by Vibrio cholerae), typhoid (by Salmonella enterica serotype
typhi), tetanus (by Clostridium tetani), and citrus canker (by Xanthomonas
axonopodis) are well-known diseases caused by different bacteria.
Reproduction in Bacteria
• Bacteria reproduce mainly by fission or sometimes, under unfavorable conditions,
they produce through spores.
• They also reproduce by a sort of sexual reproduction by adopting primitive type of
DNA transfer from one bacterium to the other (bacterial conjugation).
Mycoplasma
• Mycoplasma is a genus of bacteria that lack a cell wall around their cell
membranes.
• They are the smallest living cells known and can survive without oxygen.
• Many mycoplasmas are pathogenic in animals and plants.

Kingdom Monera

Archaebacteria Eubacteria

Halophiles Autotrophic Heterotrophic

Methanogen
s
Photosynthetic Chemosynthetic
Thermoacidophiles

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2.2. Kingdom Protista

• All unicellular eukaryotes are placed under Kingdom Protista.
• Members of Protista are primarily aquatic.
• Being eukaryotes, the protistan cell body contains a well-defined nucleus and
other membrane-bound organelles.
• Some have flagella or cilia for locomotion.
• Protists reproduce asexually (fission), and sexually by a process involving cell
fusion and zygote formation.
2.2.1. Chrysophytes

✓ Planktons are organisms that live in aquatic habitats and are unable to swim
against a current.

• This group includes diatoms and golden algae (desmids).

• They are found in freshwater and marine habitats.
• They are microscopic and float passively in water currents
(plankton).
• Most of them are photosynthetic.
Diatoms Figure 10. Desmids

✓ A frustule is the hard and porous cell wall of diatoms which is composed of silica.
✓ Diatomaecous earth is a naturally occurring soft rock made from the fossilized
remains of diatoms. It is gritty and is thus used in polishing, and filtration of
oils and syrups.
• In diatoms, the cell walls (frustule) form two thin
overlapping shells, known as girdle and valve.
• The walls are embedded with silica and are thus
indestructible.
• Diatoms are the chief ‘producers’ in the oceans.
• They are transparent.
Figure 11. Diatoms
2.2.2. Dinoflagellates
• Dinoflagellates 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 (e.g. Gonyaulax) undergo
such rapid multiplication that they make the sea appear
red (red tides).
• Toxins released by such large numbers may even kill other
Figure 12. Gonyaulax
marine animals such as fishes.

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2.2.3. Euglenoids
• Majority of euglenoids are freshwater 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 long one.
• They are photosynthetic but behave like heterotrophs by
predating on other smaller organisms in the absence of Figure 13. Euglena
sunlight.
• The pigments of euglenoids are identical to those present in higher plants.
2.2.4. 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 as
it does not possess a cell wall.
• During unfavorable conditions, the plasmodium
Figure 14. Fuligo septica
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.
2.2.5. Protozoans
• All protozoans are heterotrophs and live as predators or parasites.
• They are believed to be primitive relatives of animals.
• The branch of zoology concerned with the study of protozoa is protozoology.
• There are four major groups of protozoans:
Amoeboid protozoans (or Amoebozoa)
• Amoeboid protozoans live in fresh water, sea water, or moist soil.
• They move and capture their prey by putting out pseudopodia (false feet), as in
Amoeba, during a process known as phagocytosis.
• Some are parasites, e.g. Entamoeba causes amoebic dysentery (amoebiasis).
Flagellated protozoans
• Flagellated protozoans can be either free-living or parasitic.
• They have flagella that help in locomotion.
• They have semi-rigid membrane called pellicle that gives
flexibility.
• The parasitic forms cause diseases, e.g. the species
Trypanosoma brucei causes the African sleeping sickness.
Figure 15. Trypanosoma brucei

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Ciliated protozoans
• Ciliated protozoans are aquatic, actively moving
organisms because of the presence of thousands of cilia.
• They have a characteristic foot-shaped structure.
• 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. Figure 16. Paramoecium

• Undigested food is thrown out from the anal pore (cytoproct).

• Paramoecium is an example of a ciliated protozoan.
Sporozoans
• Sporozoans are diverse organisms that have an infectious spore-like stage in their
life cycle.
• They have a simple structure because of their parasitic mode of life.
• The most notorious is Plasmodium, which causes malaria.

Kingdom Protista

Dinoflagellates Euglenoids Slime moulds Protozoans

Chrysophytes
e.g. Gonyaulax e.g. Euglena e.g. Fuligo septica

Amoeboid Flagellated Ciliated Sporozoans

e.g. Trypanosoma e.g. Paramecium e.g. Plasmodium
e.g. Entamoeba
brucei

Protist Habitat Nutrition

fresh water and marine most of them are
Chrysophytes
habitats photosynthetic
Dinoflagellates marine habitats photosynthetic
photosynthetic, but behave
freshwater organisms
Euglenoids like heterotrophs in the
found in stagnant water
absence of sunlight
found on forest floors,
Slime moulds saprophytic
rotting trees, etc.
ubiquitous/cosmopolitan,
Protozoans heterotrophs
i.e. present everyhwere

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2.3. Kingdom Fungi

• The fungi constitute a unique kingdom of heterotrophic organisms.
• Fungi are cosmopolitan and occur in air, water, soil, and on plants and animals.
• They prefer to grow in warm and humid places.
• The cell walls of fungi are composed of chitin and polysaccharides; not cellulose.
• Most fungi are saprophytic and absorb soluble organic matter from dead
substrates. They can also be parasitic or live as symbionts – in association with
algae as lichens and with roots of higher plants as mycorrhiza.
Some common examples of fungi and their uses
Rhizopus bread mould
Mushroom, morels, truffles edible and are considered delicacies
Albugo candida responsible for causing white rust in mustard leaves
Saccharomyces cerevisiae a species of yeast used for winemaking, baking, and
brewing
Puccinia cause wheat leaf rust
Penicillium source of penicillin, which is used to treat bacterial
infections

✓ Saprotrophic nutrition is a heterotrophic mode of nutrition that involves

absorbing organic matter from dead substrates.
✓ Parasitic nutrition is a heterotrophic mode of nutrition in which organisms live
on or inside the body of a host organism and derive their food from them.
✓ An obligate parasite is a parasitic organism that cannot complete its life cycle
without exploiting a suitable host.
✓ Symbiosis is any living arrangement between members of two different species,
including mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism; whose members are
called symbionts.
✓ A hypha (pl. hyphae) is a long, slender, thread-like structure of a fungus.
✓ A mycelium is a mass of hyphae which makes up the body of a fungus.
✓ Septa (singular, septum) are internal cross-walls that divide hyphae into cells.
✓ Septate hyphae are hyphae which are divided into cells by septae (cross-walls).
✓ Aseptate hyphae or coenocytic hyphae are hyphae that are continuous tubes
filled with multinucleated cytoplasm. These are not separated by septae.
✓ The fruiting body or sporocarp, is a multicellular structure on which spore-
producing structures form.
✓ Exogenous spore formation is the type of spore formation taking place
externally. The spores thus formed are known as exogenous spores or conidia.
✓ Endogenous spore formation is the type of spore formation in which the spores
are produced within the sporangium. The spores thus formed are called
endogenous spores or endospores.
✓ Zoospores are motile spores produced endogenously by fungi during asexual
reproduction. They are produced in a structure called zoosporangium.
✓ Alpanospores are non-motile spores produced endogenously by fungi during
asexual reproduction.

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Reproduction in Fungi
• Reproduction in fungi can take place by vegetative means – fragmentation, fission,
and budding.
• Asexual reproduction is by spores called conidia/sporangiospores/zoospores.
• Sexual reproduction is by oospores, ascospores, and basidiospores.
• The various spores are produced in distinct structures called fruiting bodies.
The sexual cycle involves the following three steps:
i. fusion of protoplasm between two motile or non-motile gametes (plasmogamy)
ii. fusion of two nuclei (karyogamy)
iii. meiosis in zygote, resulting in haploid spores
• 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
dikaryon and the phase is called dikaryophase of fungus.
• Later, the parental nuclei fuse and the cells become diploid (2n).
• The fungi form fruiting bodies in which reduction-division occurs, leading to the
formation of haploid (n) spores.

Figure 17. The working of asexual and sexual reproduction in fungi

✓ Isogamy is the fusion of morphologically similar gametes (same shape and size).
The gametes are commonly noted as “+” and “ ̶ ” instead of female and male.
✓ Anisogamy is the fusion of morphologically dissimilar gametes.
✓ Oogamy is the fusion of large immotile female gametes and small motile male
gametes.

Figure 20. Isogamy Figure 19. Anisogamy Figure 18. Oogamy

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Based on morphology of the mycelium, and the mode of spore formation and fruiting
bodies, kingdom Fungi is divided into various classes:
2.3.1. Phycomycetes
• Phycomycetes are found in aquatic habitats, on decaying wood in moist/damp
places, or as obligate parasites on plants.
• The mycelium is aseptate and coenocytic.
• 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/oogamous).
• Some common examples are Mucor, Rhizopus, and Albugo.
2.3.2. Ascomycetes (or sac-fungi)
• The ascomycetes are mostly multicellular (e.g. Penicillium) or rarely unicellular
(e.g. yeast/Saccharomyces).
• They are saprophytic, decomposers, parasitic, or coprophilous (growing on dung).
• Mycelium is branched and septate.
• The asexual spores are conidia, produced exogenously on the special mycelium
called conidiophores. Conidia on germination produce mycelium.
• Sexual spores are called ascospores, which are produced endogenously in sac-like
asci (singular, ascus). These asci are arranged in different types of fruiting bodies
called ascocarps.
• Some examples are Aspergillus, Claviceps, and Neurospora (used extensively in
biochemical and genetic work). Many members like morels and truffles are
considered delicacies.
2.3.3. Basidiomycetes (or club fungi)
• Basidiomycetes grow in soil, on logs and tree stumps,
and in living 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.
• Sexual reproduction takes places in the fruiting body
in specialized structures called basidia.
Figure 21. Structure of Basidiomycetes
• Plasmogamy of two vegetative or somatic cells of
different strains/genotypes results in a dikaryotic hyphae. Karyogamy gives rise
to basidium. Meiosis then takes place in the basidium, producing four
basidiospores. The basidiospores are produced exogenously on the basidium.
• The basidia are arranged in fruiting bodies called basidiocarps.
• Commonly known forms of basidiomycetes are mushrooms, bracket fungi, or
puffballs.
• Some common members are Agaricus (mushroom), Ustilago (smut), and Puccinia
(rust fungus).

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2.3.4. Deuteromycetes (or imperfect fungi)1

• Deuteromycetes are commonly known as ‘imperfect fungi’ because only the
asexual or vegetative phases of these fungi are known. Once perfect (sexual) stages
of members of deuteromycetes were discovered, they were often moved to
ascomycetes and basidiomycetes.
• The deuteromycetes reproduce only by asexual spores known as conidia.
• The mycelium is septate and branched.
• Some members are saprophytes/parasites, while many of them are decomposers of
litter and help in mineral cycling.
• Some examples are Alternaria, Colletotrichum, and Trichoderma.
• This group includes a number of human parasites (Epidermophyton,
Microsporum, and Trichophyton) that causes ringworm (tinea), which commonly
affects the skin on the body (tinea corporis), the scalp (tinea capitis), the feet (tinea
pedis, or athlete’s foot), or the groin (tinea cruris, or jock itch).
Comparative study of groups under Kingdom Fungi

Ascomycetes Basidiomycetes Deuteromycetes

Criteria Phycomycetes
(sac fungi) (club fungi) (imperfect fungi)
some are
aquatic habitats;
saprophytes,
decaying wood in saprophytic,
parasites.
habitat/ moist/damp decomposers, soil, logs/stumps,
many are
nutrition places; as parasitic, or or as parasites
decomposers of
obligate parasites coprophilous
litter and help in
on plants
mineral cycling
morphology aseptate,
septate, branched septate, branched septate, branched
of mycelium coenocytic
asexual
conidia
asexual
(exogenously sexual
zoospores,
produced on basidiospores
mode of spore alpanospores asexual
conidiophores) (exogenously
formation (endogenously conidia
sexual produced on
produced on
ascospores basidium)
sporangium)
(endogenously
produced on asci)
fruiting
- ascocarp basidiocarp -
bodies
Saccharomyces
(unicellular),
Penicillium, Agaricus, Alternaria,
Mucor, Rhizopus,
examples Aspergillus, Ustilago, Colletotrichum,
Albugo
Claviceps, Puccinia Trichoderma
Neurospora
(multicellular)

1
Deuteromycetes is an artificial assemblage of fungi that are not known to produce a teleomorph (sexual state); which
often includes anamorphs (asexual states) of members from Ascomycetes and few from Basidiomycetes. This
sometimes leads to dual nomenclature and two systems of classification for such fungi.

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2.6. Viruses, Viroids, Prions, and Lichens

• In the five-kingdom classification of Whittaker, there is no mention of lichens and
some acellular organisms like viruses, viroids, and prions.
Viruses
• The viruses are non-cellular organisms that are characterised by having an inert
crystalline structure outside the living cell.
• Once they infect a cell, they can take over the machinery of the host cell to replicate
themselves, killing the host.
• They are inert outside their specific host cell. Viruses are obligate parasites.
History
• Dmitri Ivanowsky (1892) gave the name ‘virus’ which means venom or poisonous
fluid. He recognized certain microbes as causal organisms of the mosaic disease of
tobacco. These were found to be smaller that bacteria because they passed through
bacteria-proof filters.
• M.W. Beijerinek (1898) demonstrated that the extract of the infected plants of
tobacco could cause infection in healthy plants and called the fluid as Contagium
vivum fluidum (infectious living fluid).
• W.M. Stanley (1935) showed that viruses could be crystallised, and crystals consist
largely of proteins.
Structure
• Viruses contain proteins and genetic material (can be either RNA or DNA but not
both). 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 single/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.
Function
• Viruses cause diseases like mumps, smallpox, herpes, influenza, and AIDS.
• In plants, the symptoms can be mosaic formation, leaf rolling and curling,
yellowing and vein clearing, dwarfing, and stunted growth.
Viroids
• T.O. Diener (1971) 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 viroid was of low molecular weight.

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Prions
• In modern medicine, certain infectious neurological diseases were found to be
transmitted by an agent consisting of abnormally folded proteins. This agent was
similar in size to viruses. The agents were called prions.
• The most notable diseases caused by prions are bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE), commonly called mad cow disease, in cattle, and its analogous variant
Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) in humans.
Lichens
• Lichens are mutualistic symbiotic associations between algae/cyanobacteria and
fungi.
• The autotrophic algal component is known as phycobiont and the heterotrophic
fungal component is known as mycobiont.
• Algae prepare food for fungi and fungi provide shelter and absorb mineral
nutrients and water for its partner.
• Lichens are good pollution indicators – they do not grow in polluted areas.

viruses viroids prions

composed of protein and infectious RNA molecule; abnormally folded protein
genetic material no capsid particles
smaller than bacteria smaller than viruses similar in size to viruses
causal agent of mumps, causal agent of bovine
smallpox, herpes, causal agent of potato spongiform
influenza, AIDS, mosaic spindle tuber disease encephalopathy and
disease, etc. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Figure 22. General diagram of a virus lifecycle

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Appendix A.2.1 Genetic Variation in Prokaryotes

Bacteria reproduce by splitting in two via binary fission. Binary fission does not
provide an opportunity for genetic recombination or genetic diversity (aside from
the occasional random mutation). This contrasts with sexual reproduction.

Transformation

In transformation, a bacterium takes in DNA from its environment, often DNA

that has been shed by other bacteria. In a laboratory, the DNA may be
introduced by scientists. If the DNA is in the form of a circular DNA called a Figure 23. Bacterial
plasmid, it can be copied in the receiving cell and passed on to its descendants. Transformation

Transduction

In transduction, viruses that infect bacteria move short pieces

of chromosomal DNA from one bacterium to another "by
accident." Sometimes, chunks of host cell DNA get caught inside
the new bacteriophage as they are made. When one of these
"defective" bacteriophages infects a cell, it transfers the DNA.

Conjugation
Figure 24. Bacterial Transduction
In conjugation, DNA is transferred from one bacterium to
another. After the donor cell pulls itself close to the recipient
using a structure called a pilus, DNA is transferred between
cells. In most cases, this DNA is in the form of a plasmid.

Donor cells typically act as donors because they have a chunk of

DNA called the fertility factor (or F factor). This chunk of DNA
codes for the proteins that make up the sex pilus. It also contains
a special site where DNA transfer during conjugation begins.
Strains that carry F can donate and are designated F+. Strains
that lack F cannot donate and are recipients. These strains are
designated F-.

If the F factor is transferred during conjugation, the receiving Figure 25. Bacterial Conjugation
cell turns into an F+ donor that can make its own pilus and
transfer DNA to other cells.

Transposable elements

Transposable elements are also important in

bacterial genetics. These chunks of DNA "jump"
from one place to another within a genome, cutting
and pasting themselves or inserting copies of
themselves in new spots. If one of these
transposable elements "jumps" from the
chromosome into a plasmid, the genes it carries
can be easily passed to other bacteria by
transformation or conjugation.
Figure 26. Transposable Elements

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Appendix A.2.2 Mitosis and Meiosis

Organisms grow and reproduce through cell division. In eukaryotic cells, the production of new
cells occurs as a result of mitosis and meiosis. These two nuclear division processes are similar
but distinct. Both processes involve the division of a diploid cell, or a cell containing two sets of
chromosomes (one chromosome donated from each parent).

In mitosis, the genetic material (DNA) in a cell is duplicated and divided equally between two
cells. The dividing cell goes through an ordered series of events called the cell cycle. The mitotic
cell cycle is initiated by the presence of certain growth factors or other signals that indicate that
the production of new cells is needed. Somatic cells of the body replicate by mitosis. Examples of
somatic cells include fat cells, blood cells, skin cells, or any body cell that is not a sex cell. Mitosis
is necessary to replace dead cells, damaged cells, or cells that have short life spans.

Meiosis is the process by which gametes (sex cells) are generated in organisms that reproduce
sexually. Gametes are produced in male and female gonads and contain one-half the number of
chromosomes as the original cell. New gene combinations are introduced in a population through
the genetic recombination that occurs during meiosis. Thus, unlike the two genetically identical
cells produced in mitosis, the meiotic cell cycle produces four cells that are genetically different.

1. Cell division

• Mitosis: A somatic cell divides once. Cytokinesis (the division of the cytoplasm) occurs at
the end of telophase.
• Meiosis: A reproductive cell divides twice. Cytokinesis happens at the end of telophase I
and telophase II.

2. Daughter cell number

• Mitosis: Two daughter cells are produced. Each cell is diploid containing the same number
of chromosomes.
• Meiosis: Four daughter cells are produced. Each cell is haploid containing one-half the
number of chromosomes as the original cell.

3. Genetic composition

• Mitosis: The resulting daughter cells in mitosis are genetic clones (they are genetically
identical). No recombination or crossing over occur.
• Meiosis: The resulting daughter cells contain different combinations of genes. Genetic
recombination occurs as a result of the random segregation of homologous chromosomes
into different cells and by the process of crossing over (transfer of genes between
homologous chromosomes).

Figure 27. Mitosis and Meiosis

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