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Kingdom Protista . Biology 112. What is a protist ?. Includes more than 200,000 species E asier to classify protists by what characteristics they don’t possess It is not a plant, animal, fungi, or prokaryote They are eukaryotic cells that contain a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles
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Kingdom Protista Biology 112
What is a protist? • Includes more than 200,000 species • Easier to classify protists by what characteristics they don’t possess • It is not a plant, animal, fungi, or prokaryote • They are eukaryotic cells that contain a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles • They are mainly unicellular but are also multi-cellular
When did they first appear on Earth? • They were the first eukaryotic organisms on Earth • Appeared nearly 1.5 billion years ago • Probably evolved from a symbiosis of several cells
Classification of Protists • One possible way is how they obtain their nutrition • Heterotrophs are animal-like protists • Autotrophs are plant-like protists • External digesters (decomposers and parasites) are fungus-like protists • A shortcoming of this classification is that it does not reflect their evolutionary history
Animal-Like Protists – Protozoans • Classified according to their movement 1. Zooflagellates(Phylum Zoomastigina) • Possess flagella that are used for movement through water • Absorb food through their cell membranes • Reproduce asexually by mitosis and cytokinesis or sexually though meiosis where two organisms fuse together and produce a new organism with a recombination of genetic material
Animal-Like Protists: Protozoans 2. Sarcodines(Phylum Sarcodina) • Possess temporary cytoplasmic projections called pseudopods for both movement and feeding • Most common example are amoeba • Encapsulate their food and form a food vacuole • Reproduce by mitosis and cytokinesis
Animal-Like Protists: Protozoans 3. Ciliates (Phylum Ciliaphora) • Contain cilia, short hair-like structures similar to flagella used for movement and feeding • Found in both salt and fresh water • Most are free-living and do not exist in symbiotic relationships • Paramecium are the most common ciliates
How Ciliates Obtain their Food • Sweep food with cilia into a gullet, an indentation on the side of the organism • Food gets trapped and absorbed into a food vacuole • Waste material gets fused with an anal pore • Water moves into the organism through osmosis • Excess water moves into contractile vacuoles which is then expelled by the organism
Ciliates and Reproduction • Most reproduce asexually through mitosis and cytokinesis • While experiencing an external stress, may reproduce by conjugation • Two organisms fuse together and exchange genetic information once they undergo meiosis • This is not technically reproduction since no new organisms are produced • Only new combination of genetic material occurs • It is referred to as a sexual process instead
Animal-Like Protists: Protozoans 4. Sporozoans(Phylum Sporozoa) • Do not move on their own and are parasitic • Found in many different organisms • Many times, they have more than one host • They reproduce by sporozoites