PROTISTS
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Protista
Organisms in this kingdom may be algaelike, animallike,
funguslike, unicellular, or multicellular.
In many cases, the evolutionary relationships among the
various groups are either very weak, poorly understood, or
both.
This kingdom is artificial and is used more for convenience
than to present actual evolutionary relationships.
Rhizopoda
Amebas are microscopic, in the size range 0.0004–
0.004 inches (10–100 microns)
An ameba has a single nucleus and a simple
contractile vacuole, which pumps fluid from within
the cell to the outside by alternately filling and then
contracting. It functions in maintaining osmotic
equilibrium, regulating the body’s salt and water
balance
An ameba is bounded by a plasma membrane, and its
shape can change as cytoplasm contained within the
cell flows forward. The cell bulges outward in some
places to create a pseudopodium.
Amebas feed by throwing pseudopodia around a prey
organism and engulfing it in a vacuole. Enzymes are
then secreted into this vacuole to digest the food and
allow it to be absorbed into the ameba. Indigestible
remains are ejected from the cell by exocytosis.
Mastigophora
Members of this phylum are characterized by one or
more flagella. Flagella are long, whiplike structures
that are made up of microtubules and used for
movement.
Many mastigophorans are free-living species that
inhabit lakes and ponds, where they feed on smaller
organisms.
Some mastigophorans are parasites, including many
in the genus Trypanosoma.
Trypanosomes live in the blood of fish, amphibians,
reptiles, birds, and mammals and are carried from
host to host by bloodsucking insects.
Two species of Trypanosoma cause sleeping sickness.
The tsetse fly, which lives only in Africa, transmits
these parasites. The disease is characterized by
increasing fever, lethargy, mental deterioration, and
coma.
Ciliophora
A Paramecium is a non photosynthetic microorganism
that ingests small algae and bacteria for food.
A Paramecium is covered with small hair-like
structures called cilia. These beat in coordinated
patterns to drive the Paramecium through the water.
Trichocysts are the structures embedded in the cell that
produce the cilia.
The oral groove, a deep groove in the surface of the
Paramecium, leads from the oral vestibule to the
buccal cavity (the oral region) and cytosome (mouth),
where food can be engulfed to form a food vacuole.
Enzymes are released into this vacuole to digest the
food and allow it to be absorbed into the cell.
Cilia beat to create currents that push food into this
area. After digestion, the vacuoles fuse with the
cytoproct, which empties the cell’s waste material to
the outside.
The nucleus in Paramecium is complex, with two
components: the macronucleus, which controls most
of the functions of the cell, and the smaller
micronucleus, which is concerned with reproduction.
Osmoregulation, the regulation of the body’s
salt and water balance, depends on contractile
vacuoles that collect excess water in the cell and then
burst to expel it.
Apicomplexans
Nearly all apicomplexans are parasites of animals and
virtually all animal species examined so far are
attacked by these parasites.
The parasites spread through their host as tiny
infectious cells called sporozoites.
Apicomplexans are so named because one end (the
apex) of the sporozoite cell contains a complex of
organelles specialized for penetrating host cells and
tissues.
Most apicomplexans have intricate life cycles with
both sexual and asexual stages. Those life cycles
often require two or more host species for
completion.
Plasmodium, the parasite that causes malaria, lives in
both mosquitoes and humans
