Protists

The protist kingdom is very diverse. However, all protists are eukaryotes,or organisms that have cells with nuclei.

Protists All live in moist surroundings. Most are unicellular, but some are multicellular. Some are heterotrophs, some are autotrophs, and some are both.

Categories of Protists Animal-like, Fungus-like, Plant-like protists.

Animal-Like Protists- Protozoa Heterotrophs. Most can move from place to place to get food. Many protozoans that live in fresh water have contractile vacuoles. A contractile vacuole is a structure that expels water that has entered a cell through its cell membrane.

Contractile Vacuoles

Types of Protozoa  Sarcodines,  Ciliates,  Zooflagellates,  Sporozoans.

Sarcodines ( Amoeboid) Move and feed by using pseudopods. Pseudopods are temporary bulges of the cell membrane that fill with cytoplasm.

Amoebas

Ciliates Ciliates are covered with hairlike projections called cilia. They use cilia to move, obtain food, and sense the environment.

Ciliates

Zooflagellates Zooflagellates move using whiplike flagella.

Zooflagellates-Symbiosis Often, zooflagellates live inside the bodies of other organisms in a state of symbiosis. Symbiosis is a close relationship between two species where at least one of the species benefits.

Symbiosis- Parasitism Sometimes, zooflagellates harm their hosts- this is a parasitic relationship.

Symbiosis- Mutualism In other cases, their relationship is one of mutualism, in which both the host and the zooflagellate benefit.

Sporozoans Sporozoans are parasites that feed on their hosts’ cells and body fluids.

Fungus-like Protists Like fungi, fungus-like protists are heterotrophs, have cell walls, and use spores to reproduce. Unlike fungi, however, all fungus- like protists are able to move at some point in their lives.

Fungus-Like Protists Water molds Downy mildews, Slime molds.

Fungus-like Protists Water molds and downy mildews grow as tiny threads in water or moist places. Slime molds live in moist soil and on decaying plants.

Plant-like Protists- Algae All algae are autotrophs. Algae can exist in a variety of colors because they contain many types of pigments—chemicals that produce color.

Euglena-Photosynthetic

Euglena Euglenoids can be heterotrophs when sunlight is not available.

Dinoflagellates Dinoflagellates are covered by stiff plates and move using two flagella.

Dinoflagellates

Diatoms Diatoms have beautiful, glasslike cell walls.

Green Algae Green algae live in fresh water, salt water, and moist places on land.

Sea Lettuce

Red and Brown Algae Red algae and brown algae live in the oceans.

Red and Brown Algae

The End