1.2 Eukaryotic organism features

Describe the common features of eukaryotic organisms: plants, animals, fungi and protoctists.
Plants are multicellular; their cells contain chloroplasts, carry out photosynthesis and have cellulose cell walls; they store carbohydrate as starch or sucrose. Examples include cereals such as maize and herbaceous legumes such as peas or beans.
Animals are multicellular; their cells lack chloroplasts and cell walls and cannot photosynthesise; they usually have nervous co-ordination, can move from place to place and often store carbohydrate as glycogen. Examples include mammals such as humans and insects such as houseflies and mosquitoes.
Fungi cannot photosynthesise; their bodies are usually mycelia of thread-like, multinucleate hyphae, although some are single-celled; their cell walls contain chitin; they use saprotrophic nutrition by secreting digestive enzymes and absorbing the products, and may store glycogen. Examples include Mucor and yeast.
Protoctists are microscopic single-celled organisms. Amoeba has animal-cell-like features, Chlorella has chloroplasts and plant-like features, and the pathogen Plasmodium causes malaria.