Protist Groups

archaeplastida

all photosyntheic red and green algae. They are mostly multicellular and have chloroplasts like plants do, some are unicellular, some are colonial, some are multinucleate, and some are multicellular

archaeplastida examples

chlamydomonas, volvos, ulva, caulerpa, prophyra (red)

red algae (Rhodophyta)

• red phycoerythrin as a photosynthetic pigment which makes them appear red and allows them to absorb sunlight deep in the ocean when wavelengths are more blue

• mostly marine, multicellular seaweeds

  • for humans, uses are for food (nori for sushi and carrageenan as thickener) bc have cellulose and unique cell wall polysaccharides

  • used as agar for petri dish cultures and food

green algae

• mainly chlorophyta and charophyta. They have chlorophyll a and b for photosynthesis just like plants do. There are many many species that live in many diff environments. Many are symbionts w fungi, plants or animals.

• Morphology varies but majority are unicellular while some are filamentous or colonial and some are multicellular and resemble leaves of lettuce

  • unicellular include phytoplankton (aka chlamydomonas)

  • colonial include volvox and scenedesmus and gonium

  • Multicellular are freshwater algae (cladophora) and seaweeds (ulva or edible sea lettuce)

  • multinucleate are caulerpa - super large body form but still one cell organism w many nuclei

  • Most are freshwater and marine. Many have bi-flagellated cells.

amoebazoa examples

slime molds, gymnamoebas, entamoebas

slime molds

• use cytoplasmic streaming w help of microfilaments to move around, meaning they have pseudopodia that is lobe-shaped or tube-shaped. Can also use to engulf nutrients or ingest bacteria by phagocytosis.

  • Most live in moist terrestrial places like rotting wood

    • Plasmodial moves the cytoplasm as a mass of the organism, but cellular can aggregate/combine into a single body to more efficiently consume nutrients

gymnamoebas

• soil, freshwater and marine environments

  • More w fat pseudopodia, feed on bacteria and other protists

    • Ex amoeba proteus

gymnamoeba example

amoeba proteus

green algae colonial

volvox, scenedesmus, gonium

unicellular green algae

phytoplankton, aka chlamydomonas

multicellular green algae

freshwater algar (cladophora), seaweeds (ulva/edible sea lettuce)

multinucleate green algae

caulerpa

red algae examples

nori, dulse (palmaria palmata), bonnemaisonia hamifera

entamoebas

• unicellular parasites of animals that kill and feed on host cells

  • Spread by durable cyst form

    • Ex entamoeba histolytica that causes amebic dysentery

entamoeba histolytica

aka dysentery

• kill and digest the intestinal lining causing bloody diarrhea, fever, abscesses, intestinal perforation

excavata examples

diplomonads, parabasalids, euglenazoans

diplonomads

• Unicellular w multiple flagella and no cell wall

• Able to produce energy wout mitochondria

  • Most are parasitic → giardia intestinalis, an intestinal parasite from durable cysts consumed in water

diplonomad example

giardia intestinalis

parabasalids

• Unicellular w multiple flagella and no cell wall

• Anaerobic, reduced mitochondria, reproduce asexually

• Most are symbiotic

  • Some are parasites → trichomonas vaginalis, human vaginal parasite (std) and parabasilids in termites contain symbiotic bacteria that help termites digest wood

parabasalids example

trichomonas vaginalis, human vaginal parasite (std)

euglenazoan

light sensitive spot and two flagella. They are freelivng and aquatic

• They can switch between being heterotrophs or autotrophs bc also have a chloroplast, this makes them mixotrophs

Trypansoma

• blood parasite which causes sleeping sickness, carried by a tse tse fly

diatoms

produce around 20% of the earths oxygen since are very key primary producers. They are unicellular phytoplankton (algae) and have yellow and brown accessory pigments. All are photoautotrophs meaning all have chloroplasts w chlorophyll a and varied accessory pigments

• Special silica walls – when they die, their shells sink to the bottom of the ocean in large patches and become known as diatomaceous earth deposits which are super important bc can be used for filters and makes cat litter absorbent.

• Can survive extreme pressure bc of shells and make super great fossils

• Have no flagellum except in gamete

brown algae

multicellular and marine seaweeds amd major primary producers. They have a large thallose form and a cell wall of cellulose and algin

• Ex. kelp like Laminaria which humans eat and use the algin as commercial food thickner

• Reproduce through alternation of generations

brown algae example

Laminara

oomycetes

Filamentous, multinucleat and absorptive heterotrophs. Some infest plants. Spores even have flagella

• Not fungi, but resemble superficially

  • Have cell walls of cellulose not chitin and filamentous growth of mycelia is diploid

oomycete example

phytophthora infestans which caused the irish potato famine as a plant parasite

alveolates examples

dinoflagellates, apicomplexans, ciliates

dinoflagellates

• unicellular and aquatic or phytoplankton w reddish accessory pigments

  • Have a pair of flagella in perpendicular grooves between cellulose armor, causing spinning motion

  • Blooms in the ocean can kill fish or create toxic red tides, Pfiesteria

    • Some are bioluminescent and many are photosynthetic mutualists within corals

dinoflagellate example

Ex Pfiesteria - a chemoheterotroph and Akashiwo - a photoautotroph

apicomplexans

• Unicellular parasites of animals w no cell wall

• “Apical” complex helps them enter host cells

  • “Complex” - Needs multiple hosts and forms during life cycle

apicomplexan example

plasmodium, toxoplasma, cryptosporidium

plasmodium

• spread through hosts an infectious cells called sporozoites which get into humans when bitten by a mosquito. Then it is a morizoite in the liver human cell and spreads to blood cells. After those become gametes and then fertilize into a zygote once back inside the mosquito to repeat the cycle again

ciliate

• cilia for feeding and locomotion

• Animal-like in functions bc has an oral groove to ingest food and an anal pore to release

• Also have contractile vacuoles to let it excrete excess water

  • Unicellular ingestive heterotrophs w no cell wall and aquatic

ciliate example

paramecium

rhizaria examples

radiolarians, foraminiferans, cercozoans

radiolarians

• Have shells that are symmetric silica “skeletons”

• Unicellular marin plankton

  • Feed with threadlike pseudopodia that are reinforced by microtubules as ingestive heterotrophs

foraminiferans

• Have shells/tests of calcium carbonate

• Unicellular and mostly marine plankton

  • Feed w threadlike pseudopodia that are reinforced by microtubules as ingestive heterotrophs

cercozoans

• Morphologically and metabolically diverse

• Include both naked and shelled forms

• Chlorarachniophytes have aquired chloroplasts by secondary endosymbiosis, but are also mixotrophic