Biology Notes Chap VII

BIOLOGY NOTES F.
Sc-I
CHAPTER 7:
PROTISTA AND FUNGI
Major Concepts:
 Protists: The evolutionary relationships
 Major groups of protists
 Protozoa, alage, myxomycota, oomycota.
 General characteristics of fungi
 Diversity among fungi
 Zygomycota
 Ascomycota
 Basidiomycota
 Importance of Fungi
ROYAL COLLEGES OF SCIENCES (DHANGRI CHOWK MANSEHRA) PH: 0997-392000 E-mail: rcsmansehra@gmail.com
BIOLOGY NOTES F.Sc-I
SHORT QUESTIONS:
1. What is endosymbiosis?
“The relationship between two organisms in which both partners get benefit from
one another”.
 Eukaryotes have involved from the prokaryotes;
1. Mitochondria are supposed to have developed a symbiotic relationship with
ancestral eukaryote. This relationship is called endosynbiosis probably.
Mitochondria were independent living organisms in the past but later on
probably they were engulfed by eukaryotes.
2. Similarly some photosynthetic bacteria were engulfed by eukaryotes. These
photosynthetic bacteria developed symbiotic relationship with eukaryotes cell
and developed in chloroplast.
2. Euglena has a duel mode of nutrition. Give your comments.
Euglena has a duel mode of nutrition because it has both animal and plant like
character.
 Autotrophic Mode of Nutrition
Euglena are autotrophic because they possess chlorophyll and prepare their
own food from simple organic substances.
 Heterotrophic Mode of Nutrition
Some euglena are heterotrophic in dark and their chloroplast become non-
functional i.e. in dark they cannot prepare their own food.
3. Describe the orientation of two flagella in dinoflagellates.
Dinoflagellates have two unequal flagella inserted laterally i.e.
 One short transverse flagellum
 One long longitudinal (perpendicular) flagellum.
The two flagella beat in two grooves. As they beat, the transverse flagella
causes the organism to spin like a top, and the other longitudinal
(perpendicular) flagella makes the organisms move in particular direction.
4. What do you understand by red tides?
RED TIDES
“Red tides, a common name for a phenomenon as algal blooms”.
CAUSES
It is caused by a few species of dinoflagellates and blooms takes on a red or
brown colour. Red tides are events in which marine or fresh water algae
accumulate rapidly in the water column, resulting in the colouration of the surface
water.
EFFECTS
Red tides are poisonous and are called harmful algal blooms which deplet
the dissolved oxygen, kill the aquatic living organisms i.e. fish, birds, marine
mammals etc. Red tides make the water toxic.
5. What is holdfast?
HOLDFAST
“Holdfast is a root like structure that anchors aquatic sessile organisms to the
substrate”
 Holdfast vary in shape and form depending on both, the species and the substrate
type.
 The holdfast of the organisms that life in muddy substrates often have complex
tangles of root like growth.
 The holdfast of those organisms that live in sandy substrates are bulb like and are
very flexible.
6. What is carrageenan?
CARRAGEENAN
“Red algae produces a glue like substance which is used as stabilizing or
thickening agent, is called carrageenan”.
USES
 Carrageenan is used as thickening agent in ice creams, pudding and dairy
products.
 It is also used in toothpastes, cosmetics and paints.
 It have the ability to form a variety of gels at room temperature.
7. Describe the chloroplast in spirogyra?
In the protoplasm of spirogyra, 1—14 chloroplasts are embedded
depending upon the species. Each chloroplast is in the form of green spiral band
with toothed edges. Each chloroplast is spotted all over at intervals with large
intervals.
8. Discuss the role of algae in maintaining the oxygen balance in biospheres.
Algae are autotrophic organisms which prepare their own food and release
oxygen. It has estimated that upto one quarter of world’s photosynthesis is
performed by aquatic algae, which provides 90% oxygen in the atmosphere. It
shows that algae release more oxygen to atmosphere and maintain the oxygen
balance in the atmosphere.
9. What are saprobes?
“Those organisms which obtain food from dead organic
matter, are called saprobes”
Saprobes are also known saprophytes.
IMPORTANCE
 Saprobes are economically very important because they clean the earth
from dead bodies.
 They return the useful substances back to the air and soil (environment)
10. What do you understand by symbiosis?
SYMBIOSIS
“The association between two organisms in which both
partners get benefit or one partner gets benefit and the
other neither benefited nor harmed, is called symbiosis”
OR
“The co-operative relationship between the dissimilar
organisms, is known as symbiosis”.
Examples:
(1) Lichens (2) Mycorrhizae
11. How will you justify the name scavengers given to fungi?
SCAVENGERS
“The organisms that typically feed on refuse to remove
dirt, is known s scavengers”
Fungi are decomposer and they decompose dead organic matter into simpler
substances and remove the dead bodies from the earth, because of this
characteristic they have earned the name scavenger.
12. What is an ascus?
ASCUS
Ascus is the characteristic of ascomycota, which produces ascospores.
Ascus develops after fussion of two haploid nuclei. After ascus formation, meiosis
occurs in their diploid nucleus. As a result, eight haploid spores are produced,
called asscospores. Asci are produced in ascocorp.
STRUCTURE OF ASCOCORP
13. Describe the primary mycelium found in the basidomycota.

PRIMARY MYCELIUM
The mycelium in basidomycota exists in three forms: -
a. Primary mycelium
b. Secondary mycelium
c. Tertiary mycelium
When basidospores germinate, it produces primary mycelium. Primary mycelium
is also called monokaryon in which each cell is uninucleate possessing a haploid
nucleus.
14. Discuss the medicinal importance of claviceps purpurea.
IMPORTANCE OF CLAVICEPS PURPUREA
 Ergotamine obtained from claviceps purpurea is used to facilitate delivery of
babies.
 It is also used to relieve migraine headache.
 It is also used as anti-tumor drug.
 It is also used in circulatory diseases.
 It helps in contraction of pupil after eye surgery.
 It has contradile activity on smooth muscles of body.
15. Discuss the economic importance of yeasts.
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF YEASTS
 Yeast has the ability to ferment carbohydrates into glucose and produce ethanol
and CO2.
 Yeast is used in making wine.
 Yeast is used in baking purposes.
 Yeast in used in biological researches.
 Yeast is used in making of bakery products and bear.
16. What is lichen?
LICHEN
“Lichen is a mutual association between the fungus and
algae”
Lichens grow on base rock surfaces, tree trunks, building etc.
Lichens are excellent example of mutualism in which both the partners get
benefited. The fungus being spongy retains water and nutrients for the algal
partners. While algae being autotrophic prepare food. Similarly the fungus protects
the algal partner from strong light.
IMPORTANCE
Lichens are ecologically very important because;
 Lichens help in soil formation they are used as bioindicators of air
pollution because they are very sensitive to air pollution, which kills them
quickly.
 Lichens are known as pioneers in ecological succession in extremely harsh
habitats.
 Lichens are often strikingly colored because or pigments these pigments
can be extracted from Lichens and used as natural dyer.
EXTENSIVE QUESTIONS
1. Describe the salient features of class ascomycota.
CLASS ASCOMYCOTA
HABITAT
They are mostly terrestrial and some of them are marine.
MYCELLIUM
They mycelium is well developed and branched except yeast (unicellular).
Their hyphae are septate and may be uninucleate or multinucleate.
MODE OF NUTRITION
They may be parasite, saprophyte or symbionts.
ASCUS
They have special reproductive structures called ascus. (Plural: Asci)
ASCOSPORES
They produce haploid sexual spores called ascospores.
ASCOSCARP
They have ascus arranged inside a fruiting body, called ascocarp.
Ascocarps are of different shapes and sizes.
CONDIOSPORES
During asexual reproduction, conidia are produced which forms
conidiospores.
EXAMPLES
Example of ascompycota includes:
 Yeasts
 Morels
 Cup fungi
 Neurospore
 Penicillium
 Claviceps purp
IMPORTANCE
 An antibiotic penicillin is obtained from penicillium.
 Yeast is useful for bakers and brewers.
 More than 40% species of ascomycota live in symbiotic association with
green algae.
 Some members of ascomycota forms mycorrhizal association with the roots
of higher plants.
 Yeast is also used in biological research projects.
2. Give an account of characteristics of alveolota.
CHARACTERISTICS OF ALVEOLTA
 A system of membranous sae called alveoli are present beneath the plasma membrane.
 Alveoli may be empty or having cellulosic material.
 Mitosis occurs in the cells of alveolota.
CLASSIFICATION
There are three different groups of alveolota.
 Apicomplexes
 Ciliates
 Dinoflagellates
1. APICOMPLEXES
Apicomplexes are classified in phylum sporozoa. As their name indicated that they
have spore like cyst stage in their life cycle usually called as sporozoite.
HABITAT
Most of them are internal parasites.
LOCOMOTION
They lack special locomotary organs except male gametes.
APICOMPLEXANS
They are called apicomplexans because of unique arrangements of fibrils,
mmicrotubules, vacuoles and other cell organelles at one end of the cell.
HOST
They have very complex life cycle and pass their life in two or more hosts.
VECTORS
Vectors are living agents which are responsible for transmitting disease. The
spores of apicomplexans are small infective bodies and transmitted from host to host in
various insects species (vectors); e.g. mosquito.
EXAMPLE
The best example of apicomplexans is plasmodium which causes malaria.
2. CILIATES
HABITAT
They are found in fresh water or salty water.
LOCOMOTION
Locomotion is brought about by numerous short hair like structures known as cilia.
PELLICLE
Ciliates are unicellular organisms with a flexible outer covering called pellicle,
which gives them a definite but changeable shape.
FOOD
Most ciliates ingest bacteria or other tiny protists.
NUCLEUS
Ciliates have two kinds of nuclei;
i. Micro nuclei
ii. Mega nuclei
Micronuclei are concerned for sexual reproduction and mega nuclei are essential
for physiological functions.
REPRODUCTION
Asexual reproduction occurs by transverse fission and sexual reproduction
takes place mostly by conjugation.
FOOD VACUOLE
They have many small food vacuoles which store food.
CONTRACTILE VACUOLE
They have one or two contractile vacuole responsible for excretion.
EXAMPLES:
Paramecium
Balantichium Coli
3. DINOFLAGELLATES
HABITAT
They live in both marine and fresh water environments.
MODE OF NUTRITION
Some of them are parasites and some are heterotrophs.
FLAGELLA
They have two flagella of unequal size inserted laterally. The two flagella beat in
two grooves. Transverse flagellum causes organism to spin like a top and perpendicular
flagellum makes the organism more in a particular direction.
CHLOROPHYLL
Dinoflagellates are unicellular autotrophs possessing chlorophyll a and c in
addition to caretenoids.
CELL WALL
Cell wall is generally missing but when present, it is hard and made up of
cellulose.
RED TIDES
Many dinoflagellates are poisonous, which make the colour of water, red, orange
or brown known as red tides, which kills millions of aquatic animals.
3. Describe the characteristics of protists belonging to group stramenopila.
Characteristics of Protists belonging to group Stramenopila
 All the members of group stramenopila are parasites or saprophytes.
 They do not possess plastids.
 Zoospores bear two unequal flagella, one pointed forward while other pointed
backward.
 Examples: Oomycota (water molds)
OOMYCOTA
HABITAT
They are mostly aquatic. Some of them live in soil or parasites on flowering
plants.
EGG FUNGI
Oomycota means egg fungi because of their sexual reproduction orgamous.
MYCELIUM
The hypae lacks station; having multinucleate cytoplasm.
MODE OF NUTRITION
They may be parasitive or saprophytes.
CELL WALL
Their cell wall contains cellulose and other polysaccharide like other true plants.
ZOOSPORES
They produce flagellated zoospores.
REPRODUCTION
Asexual reproduction takes place through zoospores and sexual reproduction is
oogamous.
EXAMPLE
Phytophthora infestans
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE
The parasites of oomycota causes severe economic damage by destroying
economically important plants. They cause different diseases like late blight of potatoes.
4. Describe the life cycle of Phytophthora infestans.
LIFE CYCLE OF PHYTOPHTHORA INFESTANS
 Phytophthora infestans belongs to oomycota which causes the late blight of
blight potatoes.
 Mycelium is branched, unbranched, multi cellular and colorless.
 It is present in the inter cellular species of leaf and other tissues.
 It get food from host tissue by special hyphae called haustoria.
 It reproduces asexually and sexually.
a. ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION
 It takes place in favourable conditions.
 They reproduce zoospores asexually, inside the sporangia.
 Zoospores when releases, germinate into a new mycelium.
b. SEXUAL REPRODUCTION
 It takes place during unfavourable conditions.
 They hyphae reproduces male reproductive organ antheridia and female
reproductive organ known as archegonia.
 Antheridia produces small nuclei and the archegonia produces large nuclei.
 They male and female gamete fuse to form zygote which is then called oospore
producing a upright hyphae called sporangiphore.
 On the tip of sporangiophore, sporangia are developed.
 Inside the sporangia zoospores are formed after release, it germinates into a
new mycelium.
LIFE CYCLE OF PHYTOPHTHORA INFESTANS

5. Describe the general characteristics of fungi.
KINGDOM FUNGI
 Kingdom fungi include all kinds of fungi.
 Fungi are different from plants because they lack chlorophyll.
 Their cell wall is made up of chitin instead of cellulose.
 They have thalus like structure.
GENERAL CHARACTERS OF FUNGI
Fungi is a Latin word which means mushrooms.
HABITAT
Fungi are found everywhere on earth i.e. water, soil, air, on the surfaces or in the
body of living organisms.
MYCELIUM
The body of fungus is called mycelium. The mycelium is made up of thread like
structure called hyphae.
HYPHAE
Hyphae are thread like structure, may be filamentous arranged into complex,
structure Hyphae are of two types;
i. Septate hyphae
ii. Aseptate hyphae
 Septate hyphae having septa in its structure.
 Aseptate hyphae having no septa in its structure. Aseptate hyphae is also known as
coenaytic hphae.
CHITIN CELL WALL
Fungal cell wall is made up of chitin which is a nitrogen containing
polysaccharide, which is more resistant to decomposition then cellulose.
MODE OF NUTRITION
Fungi are heterotrophic, so they get their food either by saprophytic, parasitic or
symbiotic mode of nutrition.
NUCLEAR MITOSIS
Mitosis in fungi is different from other plants and animals because the nuclear
membrane does not break down and reform. Mitosis occur in nucleus with nuclear
membrane intact.
REPRODUCTION
Fungi can reproduce asexually and sexually.
CLASSIFICATION
Fungi are classified into following:
1. Zygomycota
2. Basidomycota
3. Ascomycota
6. Give an account of the class basidomycota.
CLASS BASIDOMYCOTA
HABITAT
Some of them are found on dead organic matter or tree trunks and some are
parasites of animals and plants.
MYCELIUM
The mycelium in basidomycota exists in three forms:
a. Primary mycelium
b. Secondary mycelium
c. Tertiary mycelium
a. PRIMARY MYCELIUM
Primary mycelium is also called monkaryon, in which each cell is
uninucleate possessing a haploid.
b. SECONDARY MYCELIUM
When two primary mycelium fuse together, forms a dikaryon or secondary
mycelium.
c. TERTIARY MYCELIUM
When secondary mycelium producing fruity body called basidcarp, is
known as tertiary mycelium.
BASIDOSPORES
Inside the basidocarp, fusion of two nuclei occur called karyogamy, which
is followed by meiosis, as a result four haploid, basidospores are formed.
STRUCTURE OF BASIDIUM
SEXUAL REPRODUCTION
Sexual reproduction in basidomycota is different from other groups of
fungi. No reproductive structures such as antheridia or archegonia are formed.
The sexual reproduction involves the conversion of monokaryotic phase
into dikaryotic phase by the fusion.
SEXUAL REPRODUCTION
Sexual reproduction in basidomycota is different from other groups of
fungi. No reproductive structures such as antheridia or archegonia are formed.
The sexual reproduction involves the conversion of monokaryotic phase
into dikaryotic phase by the fusion.
EXAMPLES
 Mushrooms
 Puff balls
 Shelf fungi
 Ustilago
7. Briefly discuss the beneficial aspect of fungi.
BENEFICIAL ASPECT OF FUNGI
1. PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
 Ergotamine obtained from claviceps purpuera is used to facilitate
delivery of bodies and also used to relieve migraine headache.
 Penicillin the first discovered chryosogeum.
 Cephalosporin in most widely used broad spectrum antibiotic obtained
from the cyclosporium acromonium.
 Griseofulvin is an antibiotic used effectively against fungal infection of
hair, nails, skin, athlete’s foot and ring worm. It is obtained from species
of penicillium.
 Cyclosporine broad spectrum antibiotic, used as immunosuppressant
drug in organ transplantation.
2. FOOD INDUSTRY
Some fungi are edible and are source of food e.g mushrooms pizzas,
Maorcheela esulanta (a morel) and tuber melanosporum (a truffle). Yeast is
also used as nutritional supplement because it contains high level of vitamin
B and 50% protein.
3. DECOMPOSERS
Fungi are decomposers. They decompose dead organic matter into simpler
substances by the process of decomposition.
5. RECYCLERS
Fungi recycle the useful nutrients in nature and hence are called recycles.
6. SCAVENGERS
The fungi clean up the earth by removing the dead organic matter. Thus
they make the environment pleasant. And because of this characteristics, they are
known as “Scavengers”.
7. RESEARCH PROJECTS
Yeasts are mostly used in biological research projects due to their rapidly
increasing generation time and increasing genetic pool and biological information.
8. MYCORRPHIZAE
Mycorrhizal association helps higher plants to improve their growth due to
extensive.
9. LICHENS
Lichens are very important to the environment because they are
bioindicators of pollution and help in rock break down.
8. Give an account of plant, animal and human diseases, caused by fungi.
PATHOGENIC FUNGI
“Disease causing fungi are known as pathogenic fungi”.
Pathogenic fungi cause many diseases in plant, animals and human.
a. PLANTS DISEASES
There are hundreds of diseases of crops and may other plants, which are caused
by fungi. They destroy the fruits, vegetables and crops and causes great loss in yield
e.g.
 Rust and smut diseases of cereals.
 Red rot of sugar cane
 Late blight of potatoes
 Late blight of tomatoes
 Peach leaf curl
 Pear leaf curl & spots
 Mildews etc.
b. ANIMAL DISEASES
 Ringworms in dogs and horses by the infection of trichophyton and
microsporium.
 Aspergillums sp. causes abortion in animals.
 Soprolegnia parasitica causes carp and salmon fish diseases.
c. HUMAN DISEASES
Almost all parts of human body are infected by fungi especially the skin.
Some of the human diseases caused by fungi are given below;
 Rhizopus and mucor sp. causes infections in lung, brain and gastric
tissues.
 Microsporium furfur causes dandruff.
 Candide sp. causes throat and mouth diseases, pulmonary infections,
diseases of nails and genital organism.
 Neurospora and Fusarium cause infections of corneal tissue of eye.
 Aspergillus sp. causes aspergillosis, whose symptoms resemble those of
tuberculosis.
 Athlete’s foot is also causes by fungi.
TOPIC FROM THE CHAPTER

PROTISTS
These are the first and oldest eukaryotes, very much different from each other in
size, structure, made of nutrition, locomotory organs, reproduction, habitats with host.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PROTISTS
1. All protists are eukaryotes.
2. The protists are unicellular, simple multicellular or in the form of colony.
3. They are due organisms.
4. They show resemblance to plants, animals or fungi.
5. They may be autotrophic or heterotrophic.
6. There is no tissue organization in the multicellular protists.
7. There are 60,000 – 200,000 species of protistis known to us.
CLASSIFICATION
One the basis of mode of nutrition, protists can be categorized into three main groups;
8. Animal like protists (ingestive mode of nutrition)
9. Plant like protists (Photosynthetic protists)
10. Fungi like protists (Absorptise mode of nutrition)
A. ANIMAL LIKE PROTISTS
Animal like protists are classified into the following group;
1. Phylum mastigophore
2. Phylum saprodine
3. Phylum sporozoa
4. Phylum ciliata
5. Phylum foraminifera
1. PHYLUM MASTGOSPHORA
 Also known as zooflagellates or kinetoplastids.
 They are unicellular eukaryotes.
 They have flagella (locomotory organ)
 Most of them are solitary but some form colonies.
 They may be free living (choanoflagellates)
 Symbiotic (tritonymph) or parasitic (trypanosome)
 Example:
 Trypanosome
 Trachonymph
TRYPANOSOME
Trypanosome gambeinse is the causative agent of disease called African sleeping
sickness. It is caused by the bite of tsetse fly. The parasite passes its life in the blood and
finally invades the nervous system, which results in lethargy and finally death.
TRACHONYMPH
Trachonymph is a symbiotic protist, that lives in the digestive tract of termite.
Termites feed on wood but they cannot digest it due to absence of a specific enzyme,
which help in wood digestion. Trachonymph produces an enzyme that help in the
digestion of wood & in return it gets food from the digestive tract of termite.
2. PHYLUM SARCODINA
 They are present in fresh water, sea or in the soil.
 Some of them are free living and others are parasites.
 They have close relationship with zooflagellates. Their locomotory organ is
pseudopodia.
 Examples: Amoebas
AMEOBA
HABITAT
They are found in fresh water, sea or in soil. Some of them are free living and
some are parasites.
BODY STRUCTURE
It consists of the following parts:
 Ectoderm (outer clean portion)
 Endoderm (Inner granular portion)
 Cytoplasm contains various organelles.
NUCLEUS
Nucleus controls all the activities of cell.
PSEUDOPODIA
Finger, like projections called pseudopodia.
FOOD VACUOLE
Food vacuoles are small and many in number. They help in food storage.
CONTRACTILE VACUOLE
The help in excretion.
REPRODUCTIONS
They reproduce by sexual or sexual reproduction. Asexually by binary fission and
sexually by conjugation.
Enta amoeba histolytica cause amoebic dentistry.
STRUCTURE OF AMOEBA
3. PHYLUM SPOROZOA
APICOMPLEXES
Apicomplexes are classified in phylum sporozoa. As their name indicated that they
have spore like cyst stage in their life cycle usually called as sporozoite.
HABITAT
Most of them are internal parasites.
LOCOMOTION
They lack special locomotary organs except male gametes.
APICOMPLEXANS
They are called apicomplexans because of unique arrangements of fibrils,
mmicrotubules, vacuoles and other cell organelles at one end of the cell.
HOST
They have very complex life cycle and pass their life in two or more hosts.
VECTORS
Vectors are living agents which are responsible for transmitting disease. The
spores of apicomplexans are small infective bodies and transmitted from host to host in
various insects species (vectors); e.g. mosquito.
EXAMPLE OF SPOROZOA:
Malaria parasitic, known as plasmodium, best example of apicomplexans.
LIFE CYCLE OF PLASMODIUM
Plasmodium is known as malarial parasites, because it causes malaria in human
beings. It is unicellular animal like protists, which is transmitted from host to host by
female anopheles mosquitoes. The life cycle of plasmodium passes into two alternate
phases;
i. Asexual phase
ii. Sexual phase
i. ASEXUAL PHASE
Asexual phase is passed in the primary host human when an infected
female anopheles mosquito bites a person, sporozoites are injected into the blood stream.
Sporozoites are carried to the liver where they stay and divide for 5—15 days to produce
a large number of round cells called merozoites. They emerge from the liver and invade
red bloods cells and start producing more merozoites.
The infected RBC’s burst, releasing the merozoites which again enter other
RBC’s. The host at this stage starts showing the symptoms of malaria.
SYMPTOMS OF MALARIA
Malarial patient shows the following symptoms;
i. Fever and chill
ii. Nausea
iii. Vomiting
iv. Severe headache
v. Body pain
vi. Sweating
Eventually the merozoites develops into special sexual cells called as gametocytes.
They do not mature into gametes as long as they do not mature into gametes as long as
they remain in the human blood. They require a secondary host (female anopheles
mosquito) for it sexual reproduction.
ii. SEXUAL PHASE
Sexual phase is passed within the gut of female anopheles mosquito. When a
anopheles bites a malarial patient it such the blood along with gametocytes. In the mid
gut, the gametocytes are converted into male and female gametes. They fuse by
fertilization and from zygotes which elongates to form ookinete and then encysts forming
an oocyst. The oocyst produces a number of merozoites by the salivary gland of
mosquito. When this mosquito bites a healthy person, the sporozoites are discharged I n
the body of host and a new cycle stands.
LIFE CYCLE OF PLASMODIUM

4. CILIATES
HABITAT
They are found in fresh water or salty water.
LOCOMOTION
Locomotion is brought about by numerous short hair like structures known as cilia.
PELLICLE
Ciliates are unicellular organisms with a flexible outer covering called pellicle,
which gives them a definite but changeable shape.
FOOD
Most ciliates ingest bacteria or other tiny protists.
NUCLEUS
Ciliates have two kinds of nuclei;
i. Micro nuclei
ii. Mega nuclei
Micronuclei are concerned for sexual reproduction and mega nuclei are essential
for physiological functions.
REPRODUCTION
Asexual reproduction occurs by transverse fission and sexual reproduction
takes place mostly by conjugation.
FOOD VACUOLE
They have many small food vacuoles which store food.
CONTRACTILE VACUOLE
They have one or two contractile vacuole responsible for excretion.
EXAMPLES:
 Paramecium
 Balantichium Coli
i. PARAMECIUM
 Paramecium is present in aquatic environment.
 It resembles to the role of shoe.
 It consists of pellicle, cell membrane, cilia, cytoplasm, micronucleus,
macronucleus, food vacuole and contractile vacuole.
 It ingest food through oral groove, also known as gullet.
 It produces asexually by transverse fusion. It also undergoes conjugation.
 Cilia helps in locomotion.
 Contractile vacuole helps in excretion.
STRUCTURE OF PARAMECIUM
ii. BALANTIDUM COLI

Plant like protists are divided into the following main groups:
1. Euglenozoids
2. Dinoflagellates
3. Diatoms
4. Phaeophyta
5. Rhodophyta
6. Chlorophyta
1. EUGLENOZOIDS
 There are more than 1000 species of euglenozoids.
 They show characters of both plants and animals.
 They are plant like because they have the chlorophyll and are photosynthetic.
 They are animal like because they have o cell wall, they are motile and they
can ingest food and therefore some of them are heterotrophs.
 They are found in fresh water, soil, on damp places or even in the digestive
tract of certain animals. Example Euglena
1. EUGLENA
HABITAT
They live in fresh water and ponds where organic matter is in abundance.
SHAPE
It is an elongated and oral shaped.
PELLICLE
They body is enveloped by a flexible pellicle, made up of protein and lies beneath
the plasma membrane. Due to pellicle euglena changes its shape.
FLAGELLA
Euglena has two flagella attached at the base of flask shaped opening called
reservoir. One flagellum is long and comes out from reservoir, it helps in locomotion, but
second flagellum is short and never comes out from reservoir.
EYE SPOT
There is an orange granule at the anterior end called eye spot or stigma, which is
sensitive to light.
PYRENOID
Photosynthetic species contains pyrenoid which help in the storage of food in the
form of polysaccharide called paramylon.
CONTRACTILE VACUOLE
They help in excretion.
MODE OF NUTRITION
Euglena have duel mode of nutrition, because it has plant and animal like
characters. Euglena are autotrophic because the possess chlorophyll and prepare own
food.
Some euglena are heterotrophic in dark and their chlorophyll becomes non-
functional means they can not prepare their own food. Heterotrophic euglena feed on
prokaryotes in fresh water, marine and moist ecosystems, as well as some species are
parasitic in nature.
STRUCTURE OF EUGLENA
2. DINOFLAGELLATES
HABITAT
They live in both marine and fresh water environments.
MODE OF NUTRITION
Some of them are parasites and some are heterotrophs.
FLAGELLA
They have two flagella of unequal size inserted laterally. The two flagella beat in
two grooves. Transverse flagellum causes organism to spin like a top and perpendicular
flagellum makes the organism more in a particular direction.
CHLOROPHYLL
Dinoflagellates are unicellular autotrophs possessing chlorophyll a and c in
addition to caretenoids.
CELL WALL
Cell wall is generally missing but when present, it is hard and made up of
cellulose.
RED TIDES
Many dinoflagellates are poisonous, which make the colour of water, red, orange
or brown known as red tides, which kills millions of aquatic animals.
3. DIATOMS
HABITAT
Diatoms are abundant in fresh water and marine water.
SHELL
Diatoms are protected by a shell which is made up of silica. They shell which is
made up of silica. The shell is composed of two pieces that fix together like a box with its
lid.
CHLOROPHYLL
They contain chlorophyll a, c and carotenoids and prepare their own food.
FLAGELLA
They lack flagella but some species produce flagellated sperms.
CELL WALL
They have cell wall which contains silica or calcium.
DIATOMACEOUS EARTH
When the cells of diatoms die, they sink to the bottom of water bodies and their
shells form large deposits of materials, called diatomaceous earth.
IMPORTANCE
The diatomaceous earth is very important because:
1. It is used in many commercial preparations e.g. nail polishes, paints, water
filters and in fertilizers.
2. They are very important in food chains.
4. BROWN ALGAE
 They are also known as pheophyta.
 They are they are found in marine water, only few species are found in fresh
water.
 All of them are multicellular.
 They contain chlorophyll and xanthophyll, which shows brown colour of their
body.
 They possess air bladder which keep them afloat during high tides.
 The largest brow algae called kelps, having leaf like blades, stem like stipes
and root like anchoring holdfast.
 The life cycle of brown algae is marked by an alternation of generation,
between a diploid sporophyte and haploid gametophyte.
 They are good source of food for aquatic animals.
5. RED ALGAE
 They are also known as Rhodophyta.
 They contain pigments, due to which they have red colour.
 They have multicellular body
 Most multicellular red algae attack on rock or other substance by a basal
holdfast.
 Asexual and sexual reproduction is present.
 The red algae play an important role in the formation of coral reefs due to
CaCO3 in their cell wall.
 The produce glue like substance such as agar and carrageenan, which is used as
thickening agent used in ice creams.
6. GREEN ALGAE
 They are also known as a Chlorophyta.
 They are found in fresh water, marine or damp soil.
 The green algae may be unicellular, colonial, filamentous, tubular to shack
like.
 They photosynthetic pigments are chlorophyll a, b and crotonids.
 They have cell wall with cellulose.
 Asexual reproduction through zoospores and sexual reproduction by
conjugation.
 They store food in the form of starch
 Example includes
i. Chlamydomonas (unicellular)
ii. Volvox (Colonial)
iii. Spirogyra (Filamentous)
C. FUNGUS LIKE PROTISTS
 Some protists resemble fungi because they are non-photosynthetic and their
bodies are formed from thread like structure called hyphae.
 But some protists are different from fungi because they have cellulose in their
cell wall instead of chitin.
 They have centrioles and motile gametes.
Fungi like protists are divided into following;
i. Plasmodial slime molds
ii. Water molds (oomycota)
PLASMODIAL SLIME MOLDS
 They live in damp soil, rotting logs, decaying leaves or other dead organic
matter.
 The vegetative body of slime mold is a large, diploid, multinucleate, amoeboid
mass called a plasmodium.
 They are animal like in vegetative stage of their life cycle.
 They behave like fungi in reproductive phase of their life cycle.
 They are present in many forms such as; creamy white, yellow orange, purple
or grey jelly like mass situated on lawn.
 They feed on organic material by phagocytosis.
 When its habitat dries, plasmodium produces slender stalk and sporangia.
 Inside the sporangia haploid spores are formed. The spores are released from
sporangia under favorable conditions and germinate into flagellated gametes.
 Gametes fuse in pairs to form diploid zygote.
 Zygote then loses its flagella and develops into a new plasmodium (animal
like).
LIFE CYCLE OF PLASMODIAL SLIME MOLDS

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BIOLOGY NOTES F.

13. Describe the primary mycelium found in the basidomycota.

LIFE CYCLE OF PHYTOPHTHORA INFESTANS

TOPIC FROM THE CHAPTER

LIFE CYCLE OF PLASMODIUM

ii. BALANTIDUM COLI

LIFE CYCLE OF PLASMODIAL SLIME MOLDS

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