Chapter 26

amebic dysentery a sometimes fatal disease caused by an amoeba that enters the body in contaminated food or water ameboid movement movement involving the extension and retraction of pseudopodia creating a directional flow of cytoplasmic material anal pore in protozoa, an opening from which wastes are eliminated Chagas' disease a disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi that is characterized by fever and severe heart damage conjugation the union of two protists to exchange genetic material contractile vacuole an organelle in protists that expels water cyst a resistant, thick-walled structure that encloses and protects a dormant organism cytoplasmic streaming the circular motion of the cytoplasm ectoplasm the region in the cytoplasm located directly inside the cell membranes endoplasm the region in the cytoplasm found in the interior of the cell eyespot a localized region of pigment in some invertebrates and protozoa that detects changes in the quantity and quality of light food vacuole membrane bound chambers in protists that contain digestive enzymes foraminifera an ancient group of shelled sarcodines found in oceans gametocyte an undifferentiated cell that develops into a gamete giardiasis an illness characterized by severe diarrhea and intestinal cramps caused by a protozoan parasites gullet the structure that forms food vacuoles that circulate throughout the cytoplasm of the Paramecium macronucleus in Paramecia, the larger of the two types of nuclei malaria a disease caused by the sporozoan Plasmodium that is characterized by severe chills, fever, sweating, fatigue, and thirst and leads to death by kidney failure and brain damage merozoite an asexually produced stage in the life cycle of some parasitic sporozoan protozoans that disperse and infect additional cells micronucleus in Paramecia, the smaller of the two nuclei; involved in sexual reproduction mouth pore the structure at the oral groove into which the Paramecium sweeps food multiple fission a form of cell division that results in a number of identical individuals oral groove a funnel-like structure used by ciliates for feeding pellicle a rigid protein covering of some unicellular organisms plasmodium the multinucleate cytoplasm of a slime mold surrounded by a membrane that moves as a mass protist protozoa, algae, slime molds and water molds that are eukaryotic and lack tissue differentiation protozoa single-celled microscopic organisms that are noted for their ability to move independently pseudopodium a retractile, temporary cytoplasmic extension that functions in movement in certain ameboid organisms sporozoite a sporozoan that has been released from the oocyst and is ready to penetrate a new host cell test the shell, or hardened covering, of some invertebrates toxoplasmosis a disease caused by a sporozoan that can cause serious harm to fetuses and newborns and can cause flulike symptoms in adults trypanosomiasis any of the forms of sleeping sickness or Chagas' disease zooplankton microscopic animal organisms that drift in bodies of water worldwide; represent a basic level of feeding relationships