Alternation of Generations: A phenomenon in the life cycle of plants where a diploid sporophytic phase and a haploid gametophytic phase alternate with each other.
Archaebacteria: A group of bacteria that live in harsh habitats and differ from other bacteria in their cell wall structure.
Ascospores: Sexual spores produced endogenously in sac-like asci, characteristic of Ascomycetes.
Autotrophic: Describes organisms that can synthesize their own food from inorganic substrates.
Bacillus: A rod-shaped bacterium.
Bacteriophage: A virus that infects bacteria.
Basidiospores: Sexual spores produced exogenously on a club-shaped structure called a basidium, characteristic of Basidiomycetes.
Capsid: The protein coat of a virus that protects the nucleic acid.
Capsomeres: The small subunits that make up the capsid of a virus.
Chemosynthetic: A type of autotrophic nutrition where organisms use energy released from oxidizing inorganic substances to produce food.
Chitin: The primary component of the cell walls of fungi.
Coccus: A spherical bacterium.
Coenocytic hyphae: Fungal hyphae that are continuous tubes filled with multinucleated cytoplasm, lacking septae.
Diatomaceous earth: An accumulation of cell wall deposits from diatoms, which are embedded with silica.
Dikaryon: A condition in some fungi where a cell contains two nuclei (n + n) after plasmogamy but before karyogamy.
Eukaryotic: A cell or organism possessing a true nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles.
Fission: The main method of reproduction in bacteria, where a cell divides into two.
Heterocysts: Specialized cells in some cyanobacteria (e.g., Nostoc) that can fix atmospheric nitrogen.
Heterotrophic: Describes organisms that depend on other organisms or dead organic matter for food.
Holozoic: A mode of nutrition involving the ingestion of food, characteristic of Kingdom Animalia.
Hyphae: Long, slender, thread-like structures that form the body of a fungus.
Karyogamy: The fusion of two nuclei, a step in the fungal sexual cycle.
Lichen: A symbiotic association between algae (phycobiont) and fungi (mycobiont).
Mycelium: The network of hyphae that constitutes the body of a fungus.
Mycobiont: The fungal component of a lichen.
Mycoplasma: Organisms that completely lack a cell wall; the smallest known living cells.
Mycorrhiza: A symbiotic association between a fungus and the roots of higher plants.
Pellicle: A protein-rich layer that makes the body of euglenoids flexible.
Phycobiont: The algal component of a lichen.
Phylogenetic: Pertaining to the evolutionary relationships between organisms.
Plankton: Microscopic organisms that float passively in water currents.
Plasmodium: An aggregation of slime moulds that may grow and spread over several feet.
Plasmogamy: The fusion of protoplasm between two gametes, a step in the fungal sexual cycle.
Prion: An infectious agent consisting of an abnormally folded protein.
Prokaryotic: A cell or organism lacking a true nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles.
Pseudopodia: “False feet”; temporary projections of the cell used by amoeboid protozoans for movement and feeding.
Saprophyte: An organism that absorbs soluble organic matter from dead substrates.
Septate: Having cross-walls (septae) in the hyphae.
Spirillum: A spiral-shaped bacterium.
Vibrium: A comma-shaped bacterium.
Viroid: An infectious agent smaller than a virus, consisting of a free RNA molecule without a protein coat.
Virus: A non-cellular, obligate parasite with an inert crystalline structure outside a living cell, composed of a protein c