Unit 2

Diversity
 Big Ideas
DIVERSITY OF LIVING THINGS

All living things can be classified according to

their anatomical and physiological characteristics.

Human activities affect the diversity of

living things in ecosystems.
Kingdom Protista
Domain Eukaria

Lesson 6
 Learning Goals

Examine their
Explore the
importance to
biology of Protists
humans, and to
and their diversity.
ecosystems.
 How are animal-like protists
different from animals; plant-like
protists different from plants;
fungus-like protists different from
fungi?
ESSENTIAL
QUESTIONS
What are the important diseases
caused by protists? How to
prevent them?
 Vocabulary

Binomial
Phylogeny Taxonomy Classification
Nomenclature

Common Phylogenetic Dichotomous

Taxon
Ancestor Tree Key
 Vocabulary

Class Unicellular Family ‰ Fungi ‰ Genus

‰
Kingdom Eukaryotes ‰
Order ‰
Phylogeny ‰
Phylum ‰
Plantae ‰

Prokaryote ‰
Protista ‰ s‰
Species Multicellular Animalia Autotrophes
‰
 Vocabulary

DNA Epidemic
Virus Capsid
RNA Pandemic

Lysis Viroid
Transduction Gene therapy
Lysogeny Prion
 Vocabulary

Pathogen Micrometer Mutualism Antibiotic Plasmid Bacillus

Obligate Obligate Facultative

Coccus Spirillum anaerobe
Transformation
aerobe anaerobe

Binary
Transduction Endospore Conjugation
Fission
 Vocabulary

Endosymbiosis Haploid Diploid Zygote

Alternation
Spore Pseudopodia Flagella of
Generations
Evolution of
Protists
What's the difference between a bacterium and a simple protist?

1 2 3
Were simple A protist is a Otherwise, simple
protists the first eukaryote, so protists, like the
Paramecium and
eukaryotic each cell has
amoeba, can be
organisms to a nucleus. fairly similar
evolve? Probably. to bacteria.
 Evolution of Protists

• Scientists think that protists are the oldest eukaryotes. If so, they
must have evolved from prokaryotic cells.
• How did this happen?
• The endosymbiotic theory provides the most widely-accepted
explanation. That’s because it is well supported by evidence.
 According to the endosymbiotic theory, the first
eukaryotic cells evolved from a symbiotic
relationship between two or more prokaryotic cells.

Smaller prokaryotic cells were engulfed by (or

The First invaded) larger prokaryotic cells.

Eukaryotic The small cells (now called endosymbionts)

benefited from the relationship by getting a safe
Cells home and nutrients.
The large cells (now called hosts) benefited by
getting some of the organic molecules
or energy released by the endosymbionts .

Eventually, the endosymbionts evolved

into organelles of the host cells. After that,
neither could live without the other .
Evolution of
Protists
• some of the endosymbionts were
aerobic bacteria.
• They were specialized to break
down chemicals and release energy.
• They evolved into
the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells.
• Some of the small cells were
cyanobacteria. They were
specialized for photosynthesis. They
evolved into the chloroplasts of
eukaryotic cells.
 Many pieces of evidence support the endosymbiotic
theory:

Mitochondria and chloroplasts contain DNA that is

different from the DNA found in the cell nucleus.
Instead, it is similar to the circular DNA of bacteria.
Evidence for the
Endosymbiotic Mitochondria and chloroplasts are surrounded by
their own plasma membranes, which are similar to
Theory bacterial membranes.
New mitochondria and chloroplasts are produced
through a process similar to binary fission. Bacteria
also reproduce through binary fission.

The internal structure and biochemistry of

chloroplasts is very similar to that of cyanobacteria.
What are these organisms?
• Animal? Bacteria? Plant? Fungi?
What do these figures represent?
• None of the above! These
organisms may be single-celled
like bacteria, and they may look
like a fungus.
• They also may hunt for food like an
animal or photosynthesize like a
plant. And, yet, they do not fit into
any of these groups.
• These organisms are protists!
 A few characteristics are common between
protists.

They are eukaryotic, which means they

have a nucleus.
Characteristics
of Protists Most have mitochondria.

They can be parasites.

They all prefer aquatic or moist

environments.
 • There are more than 200 000 known species of
Protists, divided into three groups:

1. Animal-like protists, which are heterotrophs

and are classified according to their ability to
move. Protozoa
Classification of 2. Plant-like protists, which are autotrophs that
Protists photosynthesize, and are classified according
to their photosynthetic pigments. Algae
3. Fungi-like protists, which are heterotrophs,
and they have cells with cell walls and are
classified according to their type of
reproduction: by forming spores. Or by sexual
reproduction. Mold
 Animal-like protists
• Protozoan movement or lack thereof
determines their classification:
• Amoeboid: Moves using pseudopodia.
• Ciliate: Moves using cilia.
• Flagellate: Moves using flagella.
• Sporozoan: Not motile (stationary).
Different ways that protozoa move
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGAm6hMysTA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn1aSz36Ra0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pR7TNzJ_pA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nxoSRasq2Q
 Plant-like protists
Algae are classified by the origin of their chloroplasts.
The four main categorizations are below.
• Red algae
• Green algae
• Euglenids
• Dinoflagellates

Kelp: Multi-cellular seaweed. Forms the base of many

ocean ecosystem food chains.
 Fungus-like protists
Molds are decomposers that directly absorb
food or material from their environment. Molds
are believed to be the ancestors of fungi.
Examples:
• • Slime mold: Motile decomposer that engulfs
its decaying matter. Individual cells will
aggregate when there isn't a lot of food.
• • Water mold: Typically found in aqueous
environments. Directly absorbs food from its
environment.
 Classification and
Phylogeny

• A phylogenetic tree of the

Domain Eukaryotes. Fungi,
animals, and plants are the
only groups that are not
included in the Protist
Kingdom.
• The major protist groups are
often only distantly related to
each other. For example,
amoeba are more closely
related to elephants than to
paramecia or kelp!
Why Protists Are Important?

In aquatic ecosystems:
Photosynthetic protists are the major producers in the
world’s oceans.
Non-photosynthetic protists are consumers, occupying
the lower levels in the energy pyramids.
Why Protists Are Important?
Protists and diseases
• Many protists are parasites—they live in, or on, other organisms.
• Protists cause some important diseases in humans, in other animals, and in plants.
• Malaria is the protist disease of greatest concern to humans which causes more than
one million deaths a year. Malaria is caused by several species of Plasmodium, a single-
celled protist.
• Sleeping sickness and amoebic dysentery.
• Giardiasis, or “beaver fever.” is a less serious disease that is of significant concern in
Ontario. Giardiasis is caused by Giardia lamblia, formed by beaver dams.

drinking Abdominal pain,

contaminated Infection diarrhea, and
chronic inflammation of
water the gut
Some protists are valuable to humans.
• If you like sushi, you have eaten nori, the seaweed used to wrap sushi
rolls. Nori is the common name for several species of Porphyra, a
multicellular protist.
• Other products made from seaweed are agar and carrageenan, both
used as food additives.
• Agar is a gelatinous substance derived from red algae. Microbiologists
use agar as a culture medium for the growth of bacteria
• Seaweed products are also common in toothpastes, cosmetics, and
paints.
Climate change and Protists
• Climate change is affecting many protists.
1. In aquatic ecosystems the temperatures of oceans and lakes are
rising.
• Warmer water temperatures allow the population sizes of some
species to increase, which interferes with natural food webs.
2. Water is becoming more acidic, which interferes with some protists’
ability to produce their outer protective shells. Without their protective
shells, they may not survive.
The loss of these protists may severely damage food webs that rely
on the photosynthetic protists as the primary producers.
Characteristics of Protists
Heterotrophic paramecia have:
• Many copies of their chromosomes
and very large amounts of DNA
(macronuclei and micronuclei)-
play different roles .
• Specialized vacuoles that contract
to eliminate excess water,
• A gullet (similar to a mouth) for
taking in food,
• hair-like cilia for moving, and
• Trichocysts that release long fibres
used for defence.
Characteristics of Protists
• photosynthetic Euglena contain
chloroplasts for performing
photosynthesis.
• They have an eye spot for
detecting light,
• a stiff but flexible supporting layer
called a pellicle
• A large flagellum for moving.
1. Symbiosis
Some protists live as symbiotic organisms in the bodies of animals.
• For food, corals rely on symbiotic photosynthetic protists called
zooxanthellae that live within their bodies, if the corals are stressed
by pollution or unusually warm water temperatures, the
zooxanthellae lose their green chlorophyll pigment and cannot
perform photosynthesis. The coral then take on a bleached white
appearance and can die.
2. Parasites
• Plasmodium, the parasitic protist that causes malaria, is an example.
• Malaria is spread from person to person by the bite of mosquitoes of
the genus Anopheles.
• Since these mosquitoes cannot survive winter in cold climates,
malaria is generally found only in tropical and subtropical climate
zones.
• Climate change is already causing warmer temperatures in areas that
were too cold for these mosquitoes to survive. As a result, cases of
malaria may be found in new areas.
Unicellular Protists’ Reproduction
• Single-celled protists reproduce asexually
and sexually.
• Asexual reproduction involves simple
binary fission—the cell divides into two
genetically identical daughter cells.

• Sexual reproduction of many unicellular

protists involves conjugation—cells align
and exchange genetic material.
• In a paramecium, conjugation involves
the exchange of special micronuclei
Reproduction in multicellular Protists
Life Cycles
• Multicellular protists have more complex life cycles.
• Sexual reproduction in multicellular protists may involve the
formation of sex cells—male sperm cells and female eggs.
• These sex cells contain only half the usual number of chromosomes;
they are haploid.
• When a sperm cell fuses with an egg, the resulting cell is called a
zygote, which is diploid.
• Brown algae have a life cycle that alternates between a diploid stage
and a haploid stage.
 The Protist Kingdom is highly diverse, it includes
all the eukaryotes that are not fungi, plants, or
animals.
Most are unicellular and aquatic.
Some protists are responsible for serious human
diseases, including malaria.
Eukaryote nuclei are thought to have evolved by the folding
Wrap-Up in of the cell membrane. This was followed by the
acquisition of mitochondria and chloroplasts through the
process of endosymbiosis.
Protists vary dramatically in cellular structure,
metabolism (energy sources), how they move,
and life cycles.
Warming temperatures and increased water
acidity can harm some protists and threaten
major aquatic food webs.