Kingdom Protista

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Kingdom Protista

• All protists are eukaryotes. This means that
  their cells contain a nucleus, a membrane-bounded
  structure that encloses the cell's genetic
  material.
• Some protists are autotrophs like plants, others
  are consumers like animals. Unlike plants and
  animals, however, protists do not have cells
  organized into specialized tissues.

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Protista Classified by Nutrition

• The first detailed descriptions of protists were
  made in 1676 by the inventor of the microscope,
  Dutch naturalist Leewenhoek.
• The term Protista was first used in 1862 by the
  German biologist Haeckel to describe microscopic
  organisms that were neither animallike nor
  plantlike
• The classification is currently based on the
  structure and organization of the cell, the
  presence of organelles, and the pattern of
  reproduction or life cycles. The five-kingdom
  system divides the Protista into 27 phyla.
  However, classifications based on comparisons of
  cell physiology and DNA sequences suggest that
  many protist phyla may be sufficiently large and
  diverse to be classified as kingdoms.

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• Auto trophic Protists are called Algae.
  Scientists believe they gave rise to the kingdome
  Plantae
• Ingestive Heterotrophic protists are called
  Proto zoa. Scientists believe they gave rise to
  the kingdom Animalia
• Absorptive heterotrophic protists are called
  Slimemolds. Scientists believe they gave rise
  to the kingdom Fungi

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Protozoa classified by locomotion

• The word protozoa means "little animal." They are
  so named because many species behave like tiny
  animalsspecifically, they hunt and gather other
  microbes as food.
• Protozoa mainly feed on bacteria, but they also
  eat other protozoa, bits of stuff that has come
  off of other living thingswhat's generally
  called organic matterand sometimes fungi.
• Sarcodines, Flagellates, Ciliates, Sporozoans,

Actinophrys feeding on Colpidium
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Classification of Algae

• When you think of algae, you probably think of
  seaweed or the green, slimy stuff that forms on
  the walls of untreated, dirty swimming pools.
• Algae are found in bodies of fresh and salt water
  across the globe. They can also grow on rocks and
  trees and in soil when enough moisture is
  available. (They also grow on the hair of the
  South American sloth, giving the animal a
  greenish color.)
• Most algae are able to make energy from sunlight,
  like plants do. They produce a large amount of
  the oxygen we breathe. However, at some stages of
  their lives, some algae get their nutrients from
  other living things.

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Slimemolds, Watermolds Mildews

• Slime molds have traits like both fungi and
  animals. They have very complex life cycles
  involving multiple forms and stages. During good
  times, they live as independent, amoeba-like
  cells, dining on fungi and bacteria. But if
  conditions become uncomfortablenot enough food
  available, the temperature isn't right,
  etc.individual cells begin gathering together to
  form a single structure.
• Water mold caused the Irish Potato Famine in 1846

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Harmful Protists

• Produce a nerve poison in shellfish that kills
  humans and fish in red tide
• Cause diseases Chagas disease, Malaria, 2, Lyme
  disease, diarrhea, toxoplasmosis, dysentary,
  Trypanosomaisis, 2, Leishmaniasis, 2, Toxoplasma,
  Cryptospiridium, Leishmaniasis, Brain Amoeba
• Cause mold and mildew which can spoil food and
  cause allergic reactions

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Beneficial Protists

• Used as insect pathogens
• used in ice cream, soups, nori (seaweed in
  sushi), jello, agar, vitamin supplements
• ancient dinoflagellates formed oil deposits
• bioluminescent
• diatoms mined for fine abrasives in silver polish
  and toothpaste and as packing in air and water
  filters
• marine phytoplankton make up 70 of the oxygen
  on the planet
• Diatom Detectives

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Protista Links

• Protist Kingdom http//www.kent.wednet.edu/staff/
  kloschky/Protists20Folder/protists.html
• Phylogenetic Tree http//science.kennesaw.edu/bio
  phys/biodiversity/protista/prot.htm
• Protozoa Bio 4 Kids http//www.biology4kids.com/f
  iles/micro_protozoa.html
• Microbe Zoo, Dirtland http//commtechlab.msu.edu/
  sites/dlc-me/zoo/zdmain.html