Phylum Protozoa and Kingdom Classification

Flashcards covering the five kingdom classification, general characteristics of Phylum Protozoa, its classification into classes (Rhizopoda, Mastigophora, Ciliata, Sporozoa), and protozoan diseases in humans.

R.H.Whittaker (1969)

The scientist who proposed the five kingdom classification of living organisms consisting of Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia.

Kingdom Monera

A kingdom in Whittaker's classification consisting of unicellular prokaryotes.

Kingdom Protista

A kingdom in Whittaker's classification consisting of unicellular eukaryotes.

Kingdom Prokaryotae

A kingdom including bacteria and cyanobacteria that are autotrophic or heterotrophic, and motile or non-motile.

Kingdom Fungi

A kingdom of heterotrophic, non-motile organisms where food is digested outside the body and the products are absorbed.

Protozoa

Microscopic unicellular forms where all life activities are performed within a single cell and distribution is cosmopolitan.

Plasmalemma

The plasma membrane that binds the cell in protozoan forms.

Pellicle

A binding layer found in some protozoans, such as ciliates and euglenoids, that gives the body a definite shape.

Holozoic

A type of nutrition involving the ingestion of solid food like bacteria or algae.

Holophytic

An autotrophic type of nutrition where the organism synthesizes its own food.

Saprozoic

A feeding mechanism where the organism feeds on dead or decaying matter.

Mixotrophic

A feeding mechanism that involves a combination of any two types of nutrition.

Contractile vacuoles

Organelles occurring in most fresh water protozoans used for osmoregulation; they are absent in marine forms and parasites.

Rhizopoda (Sarcodina)

A class of Protozoa characterized by the absence of a pellicle, an indefinite body shape, and locomotion via pseudopodia (e.g., Amoeba).

Mastigophora (Flagellata)

A class of Protozoa with a definite shape bound by a pellicle that uses flagella for locomotion (e.g., Euglena, Trypanosoma).

Ciliata

A class of Protozoa bound by a pellicle that uses cilia for locomotion (e.g., Paramecium, Vorticella).

Sporozoa

A class of parasitic Protozoa that lacks locomotory organelles and reproduces asexually by multiple fission or spore formation (e.g., Plasmodium).

Plasmodium

The genus of the phylum Protozoa that is the causative agent of Malaria, including species like P.vivax and P.falciparum.

Female Anopheles mosquito

The vector responsible for the transmission of Malaria.

Entamoeba histolytica

The protozoan species that causes Amoebiasis, characterized by loose stools with blood and mucus.

Trypanosoma brucei

The protozoa responsible for causing sleeping sickness, transmitted by the tsetse fly.

Somnambulism and Insomnia

Typical symptoms of sleeping sickness that occur after the organism crosses the blood brain barrier.

Trichomonas vaginalis

A protozoa that causes trichomoniasis, an infection often sexually transmitted that can facilitate HIV transmission.