Kingdom Monera

• Examples : bacteria, blue-green algae (cyanobacteria)
• Very small in size (about 1 micrometre)
• Prokaryotic - The genetic material (DNA) is not enclosed in a distinct nuclear membrane.
• Cell shapes can be round (coccus e.g. in streptococcal throat infection), rod-shaped (bacillus e.g. Escherichia coli which normally lives in the human gut), or spiral-shaped (spirillus e.g. in cholera)
• The coccal bacteria may be arranged in rows (streptococcus e.g. in streptococcus) or in clusters (staphylococcus e.g. in staphylococcus).
• Some of the rod- or spiral-shaped bacteria may move by means of a whip like flagellum (plural: flagella)

• Cell wall is not made of the same chemical as plant cell walls. Monerans can be identified by whether their cell walls can be stained or not by a Gram stain. In the case of disease-causing bacteria, this is of advantage in quick identification to prescribe appropriate antibiotics.
• Many can survive unfavourable conditions such as extreme dryness or heat by producing an extra spore coat.
• Most reproduce asexually by binary fission approximately every 20 minutes. The bacterium duplicates its genetic material (DNA) and then splits into two smaller cells.
• Some are autotrophic, i.e. produce their own nutrients from sunlight (photosynthetic), from sulphur or iron (chemosynthetic).
• Some are heterotrophic, i.e. obtain their nutrients by absorbing them from other living organisms (e.g. disease-causing or pathogenic bacteria that produce toxins).
• Some require oxygen to live (aerobic), and some do not (anaerobic).
• Some are harmful (e.g. disease-causing or pathogenic bacteria), and some are useful (e.g. decomposing bacteria which rot dead matter to recycle nutrients into the soil).
• Pasteurisation involves heating milk to more than 60 °C (when protein coagulates), and then quickly cooling it.