9/3/2017

Assignments
1. Research Survey -- Closes Wednesday, September 6 at
11:59 p.m.
2. Practice Exam Protists. Opens 12:01 a.m., Friday,
September 8 & closes 11:59 p.m. Sunday, September 10
3. LearnSmart Exercise on Fungi due 9:00 a.m. Monday,
September 11
4. Complete exercise on Lichens & Air Pollution before class on
Monday, September 11. (Bring copy of exercise to class)

Protists: The Rise of the

Eukaryotes
General Biology II

The Origin of Eukaryotes

Over a billion years after prokaryotes arose, the first
eukaryotes evolved.
Protists were the first eukaryotic organisms to evolve on
Earth

1
 9/3/2017

Comparison Prokaryotes & Eukaryotes

Protists Are the Simplest Eukaryotes

Protists contain eukaryotes

that do not fit in any of the
other three eukaryotic
kingdoms.

Protists Are the Simplest Eukaryotes

Biologists traditionally organize

protists into three main
groups:
Algae (Plant-like)
Slime molds/water molds
(Fungus-like)
Protozoa (Animal-like)

Desmid: M. I. Walker/Science Source; slime mold: Carolina Biological Supply Company/Phototake; paramecium: Michael Abbey/Visuals Unlimited

2
 9/3/2017

Protists Are the Simplest Eukaryotes

Protists are important in many ways.

Algae
photosynthesis, producing much of O2 in atmosphere
support food chains/webs (producers)
Slime molds/water molds
decomposition
parasites
Protozoa
decomposers/consumers
support food chains/webs
parasites (malaria, dysentery, sleeping sickness)

The Origin of Eukaryotes

Before looking closely at protists, lets
consider the origin of eukaryotic cells.

Amoeba: Melba Photo Agency/PunchStock RF

Origin of Eukaryotic Cells

A major question, yet to be fully answered, is
how eukaryotes first emerged.
One theory is eukaryotic cells emerged through
the combination of two processes.
Compartmentalizing
Endosymbiosis
A great range of eukaryotic unicellular forms
evolved into the diversity of present-day
protists.
99

3
 9/3/2017

Origin of Eukaryotic Cells

Three of the most important events in the evolution

of life occurred in Protists.
Origins of eukaryotic cell
Origins of sexual reproduction
Origins of multicellularity

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER)

Nuclear envelope
Plasma membrane

Nucleus

Infolding of
plasma membrane Eukaryotic cell
capable of
phagocytosis

More complex
cytoskeleton
Plasma membrane
DNA

Prokaryotic ancestor
of eukaryotic cells
Prokaryotic cell

Loss of cell wall

(flexible cell surface) Probably Archaea

The Origin of Eukaryotic Cell 11

Cytoplasm
DNA
Engulfing Serial endosymbiosis
Ancestral of aerobic
prokaryote bacterium
Plasma (endosymbiosis) Engulfing
membrane of photo-
synthetic
Endoplasmic Nucleus bacterium
reticulum (endosymbiosis)

Nuclear
envelope

Mitochondrion
Mito-
chondrion
Ancestral
heterotrophic Chloroplast
eukaryote
Ancestral
photosynthetic
eukaryote

Eukaryotes are Combination Organism

4
 9/3/2017

Organelles are the

functional equivalents of
organs.
Protistan cell is structurally
complex
Each individual is a cell that
is functionally more versatile
than any single cell from a
multicellular organism

13

Support for Endosymbiosis

Mitochondria and chloroplasts DNA
similar to bacteria DNA in size and character
Ribosomes
Replicate by binary fission not mitosis
Mitosis evolved in eukaryotes
Both organelles have double membranes, consistent with
the engulfing mechanism

14

O2 and Eukaryote Evolution

Oxygen Revolution was a
pivotal event that
transformed life on Earth
Organisms that tolerated
oxygen survived.
Oxygen Evolution of
aerobic respiration
Increased ATP production
More energy

15

5
 9/3/2017

Evolution of Sex
Sexual reproduction is one of the most important
evolutionary innovations of eukaryotes.

What is sex according to the biologist?

Sex = genetic recombination

16

Reproduction
Asexual single individual is
sole parent and passes copies
of all its genes to its offspring
w/o fusion of gametes
Mitosis
Sexual two parents give rise
to offspring that have unique
combinations of genes
inherited from two parents
Meiosis
Fertilization

17

Why Sex or the Paradox of Sex?

John Maynard Smith
Predicted that sexual reproduction is
so inefficient that it should be
completely eliminated two-fold
cost of sex
Despite this cost, sexual
reproduction is a prevalent mode
of reproduction WHY??
Two-fold cost of sex
Sex is a puzzle that has not yet
been solved; no one knows why
it exists - Mark Ridley, 2001

18

6
 9/3/2017

The Big Benefit of Sex

Recombination provides a mechanism for genomic repair,
eliminating deleterious mutations (a and b).

Parent

Parents can produce offspring that have higher fitness

genotypes than themselves.

19

Sexual life cycles produce genetic

variation among offspring
Behavior of chromosomes during meiosis and fertilization is
responsible for most of the variation that arises each generation
during sexual reproduction.
Three mechanisms contribute to genetic variation:
independent assortment
crossing over (introduced during prophase I)
random fertilization

20

Sexual Life Cycles

Sexual life cycle involves the production of haploid
gametes, followed by the union of two gametes in
sexual reproduction.
The timing of meiosis and fertilization vary among
species.
Eukaryotes are characterized by three major types of
sexual life cycles.
Gametic meiosis
Zygotic meiosis
Sporic meiosis

7
 9/3/2017

Three types of
eukaryotic life cycles:
MITOSIS Gametic meiosis

Three types of
eukaryotic life cycles:
Zygotic meiosis

Three types of
eukaryotic life cycles:
Sporic meiosis

8
 9/3/2017

Origins of Multicellularity
From single cells to colonies to true multicellularity
Arisen multiple times in Protists
Few innovations have had as great an influence on the
history of life
Being a single-celled organism presents certain problems.
Size is limited due to surface-to-volume ratio problems.

Eukaryotic Cell Size

Cell must have enough cell
membrane (Surface Area) to be
able to transport what it needs
(Volume) in and out at fast
enough rate to survive
SA/V ratio critical
Eukaryotic cells typically 10 100
mm in diameter

26

Importance of Surface Area to Volume Ratio

Consider the surface area to volume ratio in the following 3 situations.

4 cm 2 cm 1 cm

Surface Area = (base) (height) added up for all sides

S.A.= (4 cm)(4 cm)(6 sides) S.A.= (2 cm)(2 cm)(6 sides) S.A.= (1 cm)(1cm)( 6 sides)
= 96 cm2 x 1 cube = 96 cm2 = 24 cm2 x 8 cubes = 192 cm2 = 6 cm2 x 64 cubes = 384 cm2

Volume = (base) (width) (height)

V = (4 cm)(4 cm)(4 cm) V = (2 cm)(2 cm)(2 cm) V = (1 cm)(1 cm)(1 cm)
= 64 cm3 x 1 cube = 64 cm3 = 8 cm3 x 8 cubes = 64 cm3 = 1 cm3 x 64 cubes = 64 cm3

Surface Area S . A. 96 S . A. 192 S . A. 384

Volume 1.5 3 6
V 64 V 64 V 64
27

9
 9/3/2017

Advantages of multicellularity
Increase in size of the organism
Permits cell specialization
Increase in surface area to volume ratio

Multicellularity
Many protists form colonial
assemblies consisting of
many cells with little
differentiation or integration.
A colonial organism is a
collection of cells that are
permanently associated but in
which little or no integration of
cell activities occurs.

General Biology of Protists, the Most

Ancient Eukaryotes
An aggregation is a more transient collection of cells
that come together for a period of time and then
separate.
For example, individual amoeboid cells of cellular slime
molds come together to form an aggregate called a slug.
The slug allows the aggregate of slime mold cells to
move to a new feeding location as a unit.

10
 9/3/2017

Dictyostelium Life Cycle

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5h8WOWEqP6o 31

What is required for multicelluarity?

Cohesion (Adhere)
Animals = extracellular matrix and collagen; cell junctions
Plants = cell walls
Communication between cells to allow for
cooperation
Nervous system and endocrine system in animals
Signal transduction and hormones
Plasmodesmata and gap junctions
Differentiation & specialization of cells
Regulation of gene expression to guide specialization of
cells

General Biology of Protists, the Most

Ancient Eukaryotes
Protists are eukaryotes
united on the basis of a
single negative Main body of
Vorticella cell
Cilia

characteristic.
They are not fungi,
plants, or animals.
In all other respects, they Contractile
stalk
are highly variable with
no uniting features. Substrate to
which this
Vorticella is
attached

11
 9/3/2017

Protists

Eukaryotes
Primarily unicellular (some colonial and multicellular exist)
Metabolically diverse
Structurally complex
Asexual reproduction usual; sexual reproduction diverse
Basically, catch-all group!!
34

General Biology of Protists, the Most

Ancient Eukaryotes
Cell surface varies among protists.
All protists have plasma membranes.
Some, like algae and molds, have cell walls.
Others, like diatoms and radiolarians, secrete glassy
shells of silica.

General Biology of Protists, the Most

Ancient Eukaryotes
Protists typically reproduce asexually.
Sexual reproduction occurs usually only in times of stress.
Asexual reproduction involves an unusual form of
mitosis.
The nuclear membrane usually persists throughout mitosis
and the spindle apparatus forms within the nucleus.

12
 9/3/2017

Metabolism
Aerobic and have mitochondria
(sites of ATP production)
Diverse metabolic mechanisms
that arose independently in many
protist lineages:
1. Photoautotrophs
2. Heterotrophs
3. Mixotrophs What would happens if Euglena is
placed in darkness?

37

Classified by Motility

Flagella
Cilia
Amoeboid movement
using pseudopodia

38

13