What is a protist?

nature, and is the building material that gives strength to

 Kingdom Protista contains the most diverse the exoskeletons of crustaceans, insects, and the cell
organisms of all the kingdoms. walls of fungi. 
 Protists may be unicellular or multicellular,
microscopic or macroscopic, and heterotrophic or  Some protists cause diseases, such as malaria and
autotrophic. sleeping sickness, that result in millions of human
 The characteristic that all protists share is that, deaths throughout the world every year.
unlike bacteria, they are all eukaryotes, which  Unicellular algae produce much of the oxygen in
means that most of their metabolic processes Earth’s atmosphere and are the basis of aquatic
occur inside their membrane-bound organelles. food chains.
 Although there are no typical protists, some  Slime molds and water molds decompose a
resemble animals in the way they get food. significant amount of organic material, making the
nutrients available to living organisms.
 The animal-
like protists PROTOZOANS: The Animal-like Protists
are called
protozoa What is a protozoan?
(singular,  Although a diverse group, all protozoans are
protozoan). unicellular heterotrophs that feed on other
organisms or dead organic matter.
 Unlike animals,  They usually reproduce asexually, but some also
though, all reproduce sexually.
protozoans are unicellular.

 Other protists are plantlike autotrophs, using

Diversity of Protozoans
photosynthesis to make their food.
 Many protozoans are grouped according to the way
they move.
 Plantlike
 Some protozoans use cilia or flagella to move.
protists are
 Others move and feed by sending out cytoplasm-
called algae
containing extensions of their plasma membranes.
(singular,
 These extensions are called pseudopodia
alga).
 There are four main groups of protozoans: the
 Unlike plants,
amoebas, the flagellates, the ciliates, and the
algae do not
sporozoans.
have organs
such as roots, stems, and leaves.

 Still other protists

are more like fungi
because they
decompose dead
organisms.
 However, unlike
fungi, funguslike
protists are able to
move at some point in their life and do not have
chitin in their cell walls.
Slime mold

Chitin is the most

abundant
aminopolysaccharide
polymer occurring in