Protists

OUR SINGLE-CELLED REL ATIVES

Video time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAR47-g6tlA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEPAS7pB7Y8

Whats a protist? Or, what isnt

it?
All are eukaryotes (have nucleus)
Not truly a plant, animal, or fungi
Leftovers of eukarya
Most are unicellular

More on protists
Some protists are more closely
related to plants or fungi than
other protists.
Protists tree of life is not ordered
by evolutionary history, instead its
based on structure and diet.

Types of protists
We define protists by the kingdoms they most
resemble:
3 main groups
Animal-like (protozoa)
Plant-like (algae)
Fungus-like

Animal-like Protists: Protozoa

All are heterotrophic..like animals
Defined by movement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln69k7LyTsU
Sarcodina pseudopods
Ex. Amoeba (5:50)

Ciliaphora cilia
Ex. Paramecium

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGAm6hMysTA

Zoomastigina flagella
Sporozoa - nonmotile

Protozoa diseases
Plasmodium sporozoan that causes Malaria bite of
mosquito
Trypanosoma bite of the tsetse fly causes African
Sleeping Sickness
Amoebic dysentary
Brain eating amoeba - https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QdVVC3MjCc

Fungus-like Protists
Heterotrophic and absorb nutrients
from dead or decaying matter (like
fungi)
They lack the chitin that fungi have in
cell walls
Examples:
Myxomycota acellular slime molds
Acrasiomycota cellular slime molds
Oomycota water molds and downy
mildews

Activities of Fungi-like protists

Acellular colonies move like a giant amoeba,
their membranes fuse together to make a
plasmodia
Produce spores to reproduce
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B79Z56vl02A

Plant-like Protists: Algae

Algae can go through photosynthesis (all are
autotrophic, like plants, some can be
heterotrophic as well)
Examples of plant-like protists:
Euglenophyta euglena flagella
Chrysphyta golden algae including diatoms
Dinoflagellata armor and flagella including red tide and
bioluminescence.
Chlorophyta green algae
Phaeophyta brown algae

Euglena
Red eye spot senses light
which they can follow
Both animal and plant-like
Go through photosynthesis
Can become heterotrophs
by absorbing decaying
matter (no light)
No cell wall

Dinoflagellates
Move by use of two
flagella (Dinoflagellates)
Responsible for
potentially deadly algal
blooms (red tides)
Most are luminescent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqJbUKEPgXc

Diatoms
Most abundant
and beautiful
form of algae
Cell walls are
made up of
silicon (basically
glass)
Two halves fit
together to
protect cell