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Chapter 28: Protists

Term Definition
Protozoa animal-like protists
Protist informal name of the group of mostly unicellular
eukaryotes; constitute a polyphyletic group; no
longer valid as a kingdom; eukaryotes; most are
unicellular but there are some colonial and
multicellular species; exhibit more structural and
functional diversity than any other group of
eukaryotes; the most nutritionally diverse of all
eukaryotes
Eukaryotic cells have organelles and are more complex than
prokaryotic cells
Photoautotrophs contain chloroplasts
Heterotrophs absorb organic molecules or ingest larger food
particles
Mixotrophs combine photosynthesis and heterotrophic
nutrition
Endosymbiosis process in which a unicellular organism engulfs
another cell, which becomes an endosymbiont
and then organelle in the host cell
Secondary endosymbiosis ingested by a heterotrophic eukaryote
Amitochondriates lacking mitochondria; oldest lineage of eukaryotes
Excavates protists with modified mitochondria and protists
with unique flagella; characterized by its
cytoskeleton; some members have a feeding
groove; includes diplomonads, parabasalids, and
euglenozoans
Diplomonads lack plastids; have modified mitochondria called
mitosomes; derive energy from anaerobic
biochemical pathways; have two equal-sized
nuclei and multiple flagella; often parasites
Parabasalids lack plastids; have reduced mitochondria called
hydrogenosomes that generate some energy
anaerobically
Trichomonas vaginalis a parabasalid; the pathogen that causes yeast
infections in human females
Euglenozoa a diverse clade that includes predatory
heterotrophs, photosynthetic autotrophs, and
parasites; has a spiral or crystalline rod of
unknown function inside their flagella; include the
kinetoplastids and euglenids
Kinetoplastids have a single mitochondrion with an organized
mass of DNA called a kinetoplast; include free-
living consumers of prokaryotes in freshwater,
marine, and moist terrestrial ecosystems
Trypanosoma a kinetoplastid; causes sleeping sickness in
humans; evade immune responses by switching
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surface proteins
Chagas disease caused by a pathogenic trypanosome
Euglenids have one or two flagella that emerge from a
pocket at one end of the cell; some species can
be both autotrophic and heterotrophic
Chromaveolates may have originated by secondary
endosymbiosis; monophyletic and originated by a
secondary endosymbiosis event; includes
alveolates and stramenopiles
Alveolates have membrane-bounded sacs (alveoli) just
under the plasma membrane; unknown function;
includes dinoflagellates, apicomplexans and
ciliates
Dinoflagellates have two flagella and each cell in reinforced by
cellulose plates; abundant components of both
marine and freshwater phytoplankton; a diverse
group of aquatic phototrophs, mixotrophs, and
heterotrophs
Red tides caused by dinoflagellate blooms
Apicomplexans parasites of animals, and some cause serious
human diseases; spread through their host as
infectious cells called sporozoites; one end, the
apex, contains a complex of organelles
specialized for penetrating host cells and tissues;
most have sexual and asexual stages that require
two or more different host species for completion
Plasmodium apicomplexan parasite that causes malaria;
requires both mosquitoes and humans to
complete its life cycle
Ciliates large varied group of protists named for their use
of cilia to move and feed; have large macronuclei
and small micronuclei; genetic variation results
from conjugation, in which two individuals
exchange haploid micronucleia sexual process,
and is separate from reproduction, which
generally occurs by binary fission
Rhizarians a diverse group of protists defined by DNA
similarities; a monophyletic clade; include
radiolarians, forams, and cercozoans
Amoebas move and feed by pseudopodia; some but not all
belong to the clade Rhizaria
Radiolarians marine protists; have tests fused into one delicate
piece, usually made of silica; use their
pseudopodia to engulf microorganisms through
phagocytosis; pseudopodia of radiolarians radiate
from the central body
Foraminiferans forams; named for porous, generally
multichambered shells (tests); pseudopodia
extend through the pores in the test
Cercozoans include most amoeboid and flagellated protists
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with threadlike pseudopodia; common in marine,
freshwater, and soil ecosystems; most are
heterotrophs, including parasites and predators
Paulinella chromatophora an autotroph with a unique photosynthetic
structure that evolved from a different
cyanobacterium than the plastids of other
photosynthetic eukaryotes
Unikonts include protists that are closely related to fungi
and animals; include animals, fungi, and some
protists; includes amoebozoans and opisthokonts
(animals, fungi, and related protists)
Amoebozoans amoeba that have lobe- or tube-shaped, rather
than threadlike, pseudopodia; includes slime
molds, gymnamoebas, and entamoebas
Gymnamoebas common unicellular amoebazoans in soil as well
as freshwater and marine environments; most
gymnamoebas are heterotrophic and actively seek
and consume bacteria and other protists
Entamoebas parasites of vertebrates and some invertebrates
Entamoeba histolytica causes amebic dysentery, the third leading
cause of human death to eukaryotic parasites
Opisthokonts include animals, fungi, and several groups of
protists
Symbiotic protists benefit their hosts
Pfiesteria shumwayae a dinoflagellate that causes fish kill
Photosynthetic protists important producers that obtain energy from the
sun; (and prokaryotes) are the main producers in
aquatic environments; limited by nutrients in
aquatic environments
Sea surface temperature increase with decline of biomass of photosynthetic
protists; if continues to warm due to global
warming, could have large effects on marine
ecosystems, fishery yields and the global carbon
cycle