Introduction to Protists and Protozoans

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering protist classification, super groups, parasitic diseases, and the cellular structures of amoebas and ciliates based on the lecture.

Polyphyletic group

A group that contains members from different ancestral lineages that do not all necessarily tie into towards each other; this is why protists are no longer considered a single kingdom by many.

Super groups

The classification divisions currently used for protists instead of the traditional kingdom term.

Plant like protists

True algae that perform photosynthesis, containing chloroplasts and pigments like chlorophyll to absorb sunlight.

Fungus like protists

Organisms like slime molds and water molds that produce spores for reproduction and feed saprophytically or parasitically.

Saprophytically

A feeding pattern involving the breaking down of dead material.

Protozoans

Animal like protists that are heterotrophic, do not perform photosynthesis, and can be microscopic predators or parasites.

Excavata

A super group consisting of euglenas and flagellates, often characterized by having a flagella on the tail.

Archaeoplastica

An algae group including red and green algae that possess primary plastids with two envelope membranes.

Plastids

Specialized membrane bound structures, such as chloroplasts, that help with photosynthesis or storage of energy particles like starch.

Chrome alveolata

A super group containing diatoms, ciliates, apicomplexans, and brown algae, characterized by peripheral membrane sacs called alveoli.

Phucoxanthin

An accessory pigment that picks up different wavelengths of light other than what chlorophyll can pick up for energy production.

Rizaria

A group including radiolarians and foraminiferans, characterized by thin cytoplasmic projections that stick out like roots.

Amoebzoa

A group containing slime molds and amoebas characterized by flexible extensions called pseudopods used for movement and engulfing food.

Pseudopods

Flexible extensions of the cell that can be extended and retracted, used to change shape, move, and engulf food particles.

Office office the concha

A group including choanoflagellates, which are swimming cells with one flagella.

Heterotrophic

Feeding on other organisms or materials made by other organisms.

Contractile vacuoles

Organelles that expel excess water to help regulate water pressure, a process referred to as plasma regulation.

Phagocytosis

The process where pseudopods surround a food particle, fuse together, and trap it inside the cell for digestion.

Food vacuole

An internal structure where food is trapped and broken down by enzymes after being engulfed by an amoeba.

Entamoeba histolytica

A parasitic amoeba that causes severe diarrhea known as travelers' diarrhea, liver damage, and intestinal abscesses.

Plasmodium (Slime Mold)

The vegetative, nonreproductive form of a slime mold consisting of a multinucleate mass of cytoplasm.

Coenocytic

A term for a multinucleate mass where cytoplasm is shared and there are no cell walls or membranes between cells.

Sporangium

A ball-shaped structure on top of a stalk produced by slime molds where nuclei undergo meiosis to produce spores.

Syngimy

The fusion of two similar cells to produce a zygote during the lifecycle of slime molds.

Foraminiferans

Shelled amoebas with shells made of calcium carbonate and pseudopods that stick out through pores like straight legs or rays.

Trypanosomes

Flagellate parasites that cause diseases such as African sleeping sickness and Chagas disease.

Tsetse fly

The insect vector responsible for transmitting African sleeping sickness.

Assassin bug

The insect vector associated with the transmission of Chagas disease.

Ciliates

Freshwater and marine organisms, such as Paramecium, named for their short hair-like extensions used for locomotion and feeding.

Cytostome

The specialized cell mouth of a unicellular organism.

Macronucleus

The larger nucleus in a ciliate that contains most of the genes required for normal chemical processes and protein production.

Micronucleus

The smaller nucleus in a ciliate that contains genes specifically for sexual reproduction.

Conjugation

A form of sexual reproduction where two individuals come together to swap genetic material.

Vorticella

A type of sessile ciliate that anchors to a substrate with a stalk that can snap or coil up if it detects vibrations.

Epi complexions

Typically non motile parasites, such as the agent of malaria, that are moved through the host's body by the bloodstream.

Anopheles mosquito

The genus of mosquito, specifically the pregnant females, that transmits malaria to humans.

Sporozoites

The stage of the Plasmodium parasite that is injected into the human blood by a mosquito bite.

Merozoite

The partially matured stage of the malaria parasite that develops in the liver before infecting red blood cells.

Toxoplasma

A parasite frequently carried by cats that can cause blindness, congenital defects, or neurological damage in unborn babies.

Pneumocystis tauretii

A parasite that causes a rare form of pneumonia typically found in immunocompromised individuals, such as AIDS victims.