PROTOZOANS

PROTOZOANS

• is an informal term for single-celled eukaryotes,

either free-living or parasitic, which feed on organic
matter such as other microorganisms or organic
tissues and debris.
 SARCODINA

• the largest phylum (11,500 living species and 33,000 fossil

species) of protozoans). It comprises the amebas and related
organisms; which are all solitary cells that move and capture
food by means of pseudopods, flowing temporary extensions
of the cell.
 SARCOMASTIGOPHORA

• a phylum of protozoans that includes forms

moving by flagella, pseudopodia, or both and
that is divided into the subphyla Mastigophora
and Sarcodina
INTESTINAL AND
UROGENITAL
FLAGELLATES
 TRICHOMONAS VAGINALIS

• Trich is caused by a one-celled protozoan

organism called Trichomonas vaginalis. It
travels from person to person through genital
contact during sex. In women, the organism
causes an infection in the vagina, urethra, or
both. In men, the infection only happens in the
urethra.
BLOOD AND TISSUE FLAGELLATES
 PHYLUM APICOMPLEXA

• The Apicomplexa are a large phylum of

parasitic alveolates. Most of them possess a
unique form of organelle that comprises a type
of plastid called an apicoplast, and an apical
complex structure. The organelle is an
adaptation that the apicomplexan applies in
penetration of a host cell.
APICOMPLEXA
 CLASS SPOROZOANS

• sporozoans have no cilia or flagella. All species

are parasitic and have elaborate life cycles, often
requiring more than one host.
• are also responsible for widespread human
diseases such as malaria (Plasmodium sp.,
transmitted by mosquitoes) and toxoplasmosis
(Toxoplasma gondii, contracted from
unpasteurized milk, undercooked meat, or house
cats)
 WHERE ARE SPOROZOANS FOUND?

• Some sporozoans, like the malarial organism,

live primarily in the blood cells; others, like
Coccidia, live in the epithelial cells lining the
intestine. Still others live in muscles, kidneys,
and other organs.
SPOROZOA
 PHYLUM CILIOPHORA

• are protozoans possessing cilia in at least one stage of

their life cycle and having two different types of
nuclei: one macronucleus and one or more
micronuclei.
• The ciliates are a group of protozoans characterized
by the presence of hair-like organelles called cilia,
which are identical in structure to eukaryotic flagella,
but are in general shorter and present in much larger
numbers, with a different undulating pattern than
flagella.
CILIATE
 WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF CILIATES?

• The ciliates are a group of protozoans

characterized by the presence of hair-like
organelles called cilia, which are identical in
structure to eukaryotic flagella, but are in
general shorter and present in much larger
numbers, with a different undulating pattern
than flagella.
 ARE CILIATES HARMFUL?

• Most ciliates are free-living forms. Relatively

few are parasitic, and only one species,
Balantidium coli, is known to cause human
disease. Some other ciliates cause diseases in
fish and may present a problem for
aquaculturists; others are parasites or
commensals on various invertebrates.