Protists and Their Roles in Food Webs and Reproduction

These flashcards cover key concepts related to protists, their role in food webs, and modes of reproduction.

Protists

Eukaryotic organisms that can be unicellular or multicellular and form the foundation of food webs.

Asexual reproduction

A reproductive process involving one parent that results in no genetic variation.

Sexual reproduction

A reproductive process involving two parents that leads to genetic variation.

Binary fission

A method of asexual reproduction in which an organism divides into two equal parts.

Budding

A form of asexual reproduction where a new organism grows from a bud on the parent.

Charophytes

Green algae that are the group most likely to have given rise to land plants.

Choanoflagellates

An extinct group of unicellular organisms that are the most likely ancestors of animals.

Plasmodium

A genus of parasitic protists that causes malaria.

Giardia

A parasitic protist that causes giardiasis, leading to diarrhea.

Trypanosoma

A genus of parasitic protists responsible for African sleeping sickness.

Toxoplasma gondii

A parasitic organism that causes toxoplasmosis.

Entamoeba histolytica

A parasitic amoeba that causes amoebic dysentery.