Zeb 2/27/2024

Kingdom Protista Profile

The Kingdom Protista consists of protists. Protists are simple eukaryotic organisms that are
neither plants nor animals or fungi. Most protists are one-celled and live in water. The name of
the kingdom Protista is derived from the Greek term “protistos”, meaning “the very first”.
Scientists speculate that protists form a link between plants, animals, and fungi, as these three
kingdoms diverged from a common protist-like ancestor billions of years ago. The kingdom
Protista is classified into the following:

● Protozoans
● Slime Moulds
● Chrysophytes
● Dinoflagellates
● Euglenoids
Protists are also important because:

● Protists serve as the foundation of the food chain.

● Protists are symbionts.
● Some protists also produce oxygen.
● Protists are the primary sources of food for many animals.
Protozoans
Protozoans are unicellular organisms, meaning that they are made of one cell. Most
members do not have a definite shape. For example, an amoeba can change its shape
indefinitely. The most well-known examples of protozoans are amoeba, paramecium,
and euglena. Unlike other members of this group, euglena is a free-living protozoan that
has chlorophyll, which means it can make its own food.

The protozoans can be divided into four major groups:

1. Amoeboid protozoans - Mostly found in water bodies.
2. Flagellated protozoans - As the name suggests, the members of this group have
flagella. They can be free-living, as well as parasitic.
3. Ciliated protozoans - They have cilia all over their body, which help in nutrition.
4. Sporozoans - These organisms are so-called because their life cycle has a
spore-like stage.

Slime Moulds
Slime moulds are tiny organisms that have many nuclei. They are capable of living
freely as single cells, but can join together to form multicellular structures. These
species usually feed on bacteria, fungi, and other microbes present on any type of dead
plant materials. They are even visible to the naked eye. They were originally classified
as fungi, but are no longer considered part of that kingdom.

Chrysophytes, Dinoflagellates and Euglenoids

These form another category under their kingdom. These are generally single-celled or
multicellular organisms. They are found mostly in freshwater sources or marine lakes.
They are characterized by the presence of hard cell walls.
Chrysophytes can cause earth to form from the accumulation of cell wall
deposits. They are photosynthetic organisms.
Dinoflagellates are photosynthetic organisms. They show bioluminescence and
are known to cause red tide.
Euglenoids are the link between plants and animals. They lack a cell wall but
perform photosynthesis. In the absence of sunlight, they feed on small
organisms.
Information was provided by BYJU.

3/05/2024
Manatee Learning Academy
Zeb Henry

This is a project, not a paper with pictures.