Communicable Disease | Protist & Fungal Disease

Are fungi eukaryotic or prokaryotic?

Eukaryotic.

Can fungi be unicellular, multicellular, or both?

Both (e.g., yeast is unicellular; mushrooms are multicellular).

What are the long thread-like structures in multicellular fungi called?

Hyphae.

What do hyphae produce that spread easily and grow into new fungi?

Spores.

What is rose black spot?

A fungal disease that causes purple or black spots on leaves (especially roses).

What happens to a plant with rose black spot as the fungus does more damage?

Leaves turn yellow and drop off, reducing photosynthesis so the plant doesn't grow well.

How does rose black spot fungus normally spread?

By being transported in water or by the wind.

How can rose black spot be treated?

Chop off infected leaves (and destroy them) or spray the plant with fungicides.

What are protists?

Eukaryotic organisms that can be single or multi-celled (majority are unicellular).

What is a parasite?

An organism that lives on or inside another organism and survives at that other organism's expense.

What are vectors?

Other organisms (like insects) that transport protists between different host organisms (vectors don't get the disease themselves).

What causes malaria?

A parasitic protist.

How is malaria transported between hosts?

By mosquitoes.

What happens when a mosquito feeds on an infected animal?

It sucks up malaria parasites along with blood.

How do the malaria parasites spread to a new host?

When the mosquito feeds on a healthy animal (e.g., a person), the parasites get transferred.

What are the symptoms of malaria in humans?

Really bad fevers, headaches, feeling dreadful; symptoms go away but keep coming back (recurrent episodes).

What is the best way to prevent diseases like malaria?

Stop the vectors from spreading the protists in the first place.

Give two methods to prevent the spread of malaria mentioned in the video.

Destroy mosquito breeding sites, kill mosquitoes with insecticides, use mosquito nets, or use mosquito repellent.