A scientist finds a new life form and determines that it performs photosynthesis. Which of the six kingdoms could it belong to? Select the list that contains all the possible kingdoms.
A. Protista, Fungi, and Plantae
B. Eubacteria, Archaebacteria, Fungi, and Plantae
C. Eubacteria, Archaebacteria, Protista, and Plantae
D. Protista and Plantae
Answer (3)
C) all of the kingdoms either are always or sometimes autotrophs (make their own food) which perform photosynthesis
The kingdoms that could include a new photosynthetic life form are Protista, Plantae, and some members of Eubacteria, making option c) the correct answer. Fungi and Animalia are not photosynthetic kingdoms.
If a scientist finds a new life form that performs photosynthesis, it could belong to any of the kingdoms that contain photosynthetic organisms. According to biological classifications, the kingdoms capable of photosynthesis are Protista, Plantae, and some members of the Eubacteria (now simply referred to as Bacteria within the domain Bacteria). The Archaea (or Archaebacteria), while constituting a distinct domain, do not generally perform photosynthesis, at least not in the same manner as plants and algae. The Fungi and Animalia kingdoms lack the ability to photosynthesize. The correct list of kingdoms that include photosynthetic organisms is thus c) Eubacteria, Archaebacteria, Protista, and Plantae. However, it's worth noting that typically, when referring to photosynthetic life forms, scientists are often thinking of Eubacteria (for cyanobacteria), Protista (for algae), and Plantae (for land plants and green algae). Fungi are not known for photosynthesis and thus are not expected to be the kingdom for a photosynthetic organism. A newer understanding also separates the prokaryotic organisms into two domains, Bacteria and Archaea, based on differences in their cell membranes and rRNA, but this standard does not change the inclusion of photosynthetic organisms in the mentioned kingdoms.
The new life form that performs photosynthesis could belong to the kingdoms Plantae, Protista, or Eubacteria. Hence, the correct answer from the provided options is C. Eubacteria, Archaebacteria, Protista, and Plantae.
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