Protists Flashcards

Flashcards covering key vocabulary terms related to protists from the lecture notes.

Protists

Eukaryotes that are not plants, animals, or fungi.

Algae

Autotrophic protists informally grouped as such.

Protozoa

Animal-like protists.

Chlamydomonas

A genus of unicellular, autotrophic, and motile (biflagellate) green algal organisms.

Volvox

A polyphyletic genus of chlorophyte freshwater unicellular green algae, forms complex colonies.

Thallus

The multicellular vegetative body found in some chlorophyte species.

Brown Algae

Part of the stramenopile clade; many are multicellular and macroscopic, with a brown color derived from photopigments.

Terms for root, stem and leaf-like structures in brown algae

Holdfast, stipe, and laminae.

Rockweed

A common name for Fucus, a type of brown algae.

Diatoms

Unicellular and microscopic stramenopiles with silica shells.

Dinoflagellates

Clade of protists that are unicellular and have cellulose plates, with two flagella.

Red Tides

Algal blooms caused by dinoflagellates that produce toxins.

Euglenozoans

Clade of protists including euglenids and trypanosomes.

Euglena

A freshwater flagellate that is both heterotrophic and autotrophic.

Trypanosomes

Endoparasitic euglenozoans with a unique flagellum and kinetoplast.

Ciliates

A clade of protists with abundant cilia for locomotion and feeding.

Apicomplexans

A group of alveolates that are all obligate intracellular parasites.

Plasmodium

The pathogen that causes malaria.

Amoebas

Unicellular organisms that move via pseudopod extensions.

Plasmodial Slime Molds

Slime molds that are unicellular and multinucleate.

Cellular Slime Molds

Individual amoebas that come together at certain times to form a multicellular mass for sporulation.

Foraminiferans

Testate amoebas with chambered tests made of calcium carbonate.

Heterolobosea

Amoebas characterized by being dimorphic, able to move from a feeding amoeba form to a motile flagellated form.

Naegleria fowleri

A freshwater heterolobosean that can cause primary amebic meningoencephalitis.