1. Protista “The Leftovers”
By: Adam Bungum

2. Main Points and Outline:
1. Kingdom Protista background info.
2. background info. On Protozoa, Algae, and fungus-like protists
Introduction to Foraminifera
Introduction to Red and Green algae
Introduction to “Slime Molds”

3. Kingdom Protista
Members of the Protista Kingdom are 1 of the following 3:
1. Unicellular: cells are similar with similar generalized functions.
2. Colonial
3. Multicellular: the “body” of the organism consists of a variety of types of cells each type with its own specialized function.
The organisms are all eukaryotes (they have a true nucleus).

4. Environment
Each member of the Protista family needs some kind of water-based environment.
common found areas:
Fresh or marine water, snow, damp soil, polar bear hairs.

5. Reproduction All are Aerobic Mitochondria do cellular respiration
Some have chloroplasts and do photosynthesis
Most of them reproduce or grow by Mitosis, but some reproduce by meiosis and fertilization.

6. Background info. On main points
Protists are grouped into 3 major categories based on means by which they obtain nutrition.
1. Protozoa
2. Algae
3. Fungus-like Protists

7. Protozoa info.
These protists are like animals in the way that they receive nutrition.
They ingest their food by phagocytosis
Some have mouth-like structures into which the prey is put while others use pseudopodia to move and engulf prey
Prey include bacteria and other smaller one-celled organisms

8. Algal Protists info. Are Photosynthetic Nutrition: plant like
Almost all of them contain chlorophyll A, most of them have chlorophyll C, but only a few have chlorophyll B.
They are based on similarities in pigments

9. Algal Protists info. cont.
They are abundant in plankton
Occur in large numbers
They can become so numerous that water can appear “red”
Many green algae, have both sexual and asexual stages in their life cycles

10. Fungus-like Protists info.
These organisms are called slime molds
Fungus-like in their nutrition in that they absorb nutrients from their environment
Body structure: nuclei undergo mitosis, but no cytokinesis
The “body” is a giant multinucleate mass of cytoplasm
They are also mobile: they move by amoeboid movement, in other words like a giant Amoeba
They are found in decayed wood: they move around between the fibers and ingest bacteria
Appearance: bright yellow or orange

11. Introduction to Foraminifera
Foraminifera are single-celled protists with shells
The shells are divided into chambers which are added during growth, though the simplest forms are open tubes or hollow spheres.
The shell can be made of organic compounds, sand grains and other particles cemented together, or crystalline calcite

15. Formation of Foraminifera
Fully grown individuals range in size from about 100 micrometers to almost 20 centimeters long
A single individual may have one or many nuclei within its cell
The oldest fossil foraminifera, from the Cambrian, are simple agglutinated tubes
Their shells are built of hollow chambers separated by partitions, with small openings called foramina that connect the chambers
The final chamber has openings to the exterior called the aperture
The living organism fills all the chambers except for the recently added ones
Most build shells with multiple chambers (multilocular)
Some build shells with single chamber (unilocular)

16. Food and Nutrition:
The largest living species have a symbiotic relationship with algae, which they farm inside their shells
Other species eat foods ranging from dissolved organic molecules, bacteria, diatoms and other single celled phytoplankton, to small animals such as copepods
They move and catch their food with a network of thin extensions of the cytoplasm called reticulopodia, long, branching extensions of the cell reach from openings in the shell and fuse together to form a net in which plankton organisms are trapped

17. Foraminifera Life History
Most of the estimated 4,000 living species of forams live in the world’s oceans
Of these 40 species are planktonic, or they float in the water, the other species live at the bottom of the ocean, on shells, rock and seaweeds or in the sand and mud of the bottom
The pink sands of Bermuda get their color from the shells of foraminifera, which has red colored shells
They are found in all marine environments
Foraminifera are prey to snails, sand dollars, and fish

18. Introduction to Red Algae
Red algae are important members of coral reefs
They are multi cellular and produce lots of oxygen
Some species grow in thin mat over rocks and other hard coral structures
They are called crustose when they grow In this form
The crustose forms of red algae bind an infill coral skeletons to form massive sedimentary structures which are strong enough to resist wave action and erosion

20. About Red algae
What they look like: can be found in microscopic forms or large fleshy algae, they are usually red, may appear to be olive-brown depending on what they live on
Where they live: all regions of the world, found in region of rocky coasts and in tide pools
How they get energy: they are photosynthetic and autotrophic- get energy from photosynthesis

21. About Red algae cont.
What are they prey to: herbivorous animals such as fish, crustaceans, worms, gastropods all crop and graze them
They form a very important layer at the base of the food chain
How do they reproduce: asexually and sexually, some stages of their reproductive cycle are completely unknown

22. About Red algae cont.
Who they live with: members of benthic community, share space with plants and small invertebrates
Interaction with people: some are eaten by Japanese and people of Welsh
The high vitamin and protein content of the algae makes it attractive

23. Introduction to Green algae
The most diverse group of algae
More than 7000 species
Contain two forms of chlorophyll: use to fuel the manufacture of sugars
Because they are aquatic and manufacture their own food, they are called algae

24. About Green algae
Found growing in tide pools, and are often visible when in low tide because they attach to rocks
Have chlorophylls A and B
Since there are so many diverse groups of green algae they are classified by their flagellar insertion( the number and arrangement of the flagells that the cells have), their method of cell division and their habitat

27. About Green algae cont.
A common Green algae is Hydrodictyon, the water net
It forms a bag shaped colony
Each individual cell can develop into a new colony, they can produce very rapidly as well
Can grow large, almost 30 cm in length
Many green algae form long filaments, the cells stay attached after they divide
They can become so dense that they form dense mats of growth on surfaces of ponds.
When in this form the chloroplast runs through the cell like a helix

28. Introduction to “Slime Molds”
Primitive heterotrophic organisms that superficially resemble fungi
Were once grouped with fungi, but are now classified as protists
Slime molds are eukaryotes
There are 3 main groups of slime molds
Plasmodial slime molds: basically enormous single cells with thousands of nuclei.
Formed when individual flagellated cells swarm together and fuse
End result is one large bag of cytoplasm with many diploid nuclei
The large size of the slime mold cell makes them easier to manipulate than most other cells

32. Reproduction and Nutrition of Plasmodial slime molds:
may grow to a diameter of several inches and are often brightly colored
Feed on living microorganisms such as bacteria and yeasts and decaying vegetation
They ingest the food by phagocytosis
Before they move to the reproductive stage they move to a better/drier place such as the top layer of a log
In the reproductive stage the plasmodium is transformed into one or more reproductive structures called fruiting bodies, each consisting of a stalk topped by a spore producing capsule
Later the cellulose walled spores are dispersed and they then germinate in wet place where they release naked cells
In plasmodium slime molds the germinated spores of through an amoeboid or flagellated swimming stage followed by sexual fusions and cell divisions

33. There are 3 main groups of slime molds Cont.
Cellular slime molds: most of life is spent as separate single-celled amoeboid protists, but the release of a chemical signal causes the individual cells aggregate into a great giant swarm
Cellular slime molds also provide a comparatively simple and easily manipulated system for understanding how cells interact to generate a multicellular organism
There are 2 groups of cellular slime molds, the Dictyostelida and the Acrasida, they are not very closely related

34. There are 3 main groups of slime molds Cont.
Labyrinthulomycota: are recognized as slime nest, they are also called slime molds
They appear to be more closely related to the Chromista and not as close of relatives to the other slime mold groups

35. There are 3 main groups of slime molds Cont.
What the 3 main groups of slime molds have n common is their life cycle
Their life cycle can be divided into an animallike motile phase, in which growth and feeding occur, and a plant like, immotile, reproductive phase
Motile phase is commonly found under rotting logs and or damp leaves where there is a lot of cellulose
When there is not favorable conditions, these slime molds form sporangia – clusters of spores, often found at the tips of stalks such as in the sporangium of a Physarum
The spores of the sporangia are then dispersed to newer habitats, they then germinate into small amoebae, and the life cycle repeats
Bacteria and ciliate have a very similar life cycle

36. History of Slime Molds
Since slime molds contain almost no fossil record
they produce few resistant structures
They live in most terrestrial habitats, such as decaying wood or fresh cow dung 
Although a few slime mold fossils have been found in amber

37. Work Cited http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/foram/foramintro.html