Protoctists

Protoctists are mixed group of eukaryotic organisms that don’t fit into the plants, animals or
fungi. Most protoctists are microscopic single-celled organisms. Some look like animal cells,
such as amoeba. These are protozoans. Other protoctists have chloroplasts and carry out
photosynthesis, so are more like plants. These are called algae. Most algae are unicellular,e.g.
chlamydomonas, but some species such as seaweeds, ecklonia are multicellular. Some protoctists
are the agents of diseases, such as Plasmodium, the organism causing malaria.

1|P ag e
 Plants
 Members of this group are multicellular
 Their cells are made of cellulose
 Their cells contain chloroplasts
 Thus, they carry out photosynthesis
 Their stored energy is starch and transportable sugar is sucrose
 Their transporting vessels are xylem and phloem

Animals

• Members of this group are multicellular

• This group includes invertebrates, such as sponges, molluscs, worms, starfish, insects and
crustaceans etc. and vertebrates, such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
An invertebrate is an organism having no vertebral collumn or backbone.
• Their cells never contain chloroplasts, thus they are not able to carry out photosynthesis
• Animal cells lack cell walls
• They can move from one place to the next
• Their stored energy is glycogen

2|P ag e