Protista - 1

The Kingdom Protista (or the multiple candidate Kingdoms derived from the
Protista) includes the most primitive of Eukaryotic organisms, with fossils, called
acritarchs, dating back about 2 billion years.

Eukaryotes are believed to have evolved by a process called endosymbiosis, in

which predatory prokaryotes engulfed and maintained other prokaryotes. Over
time, the engulfed prokaryotes lost most metabolic functions and became
“organelles” including mitochondria (from aerobic heterotrophic prokaryotes
engulfed) and chloroplasts (from photosynthetic prokaryotes engulfed). The
endomembrane system, including the nuclear envelope evolved from invaginations
and then separations of the plasma membrane. Recall that prokaryotes use the
plasma membrane during DNA replication for attaching and then separating the
newly formed DNA molecules. Mitochondria and chloroplasts have the ability today
to self-replicate, contain DNA and are dimensionally similar to prokaryotes. Their
internal membranes share properties with the plasma membranes of prokaryotes,
particularly with transport mechanisms. Ribosomes of chloroplasts are similar to
prokaryote ribosomes.

The protists are by far the most diverse of the Eukaryotic organisms, and are
characterized by the following:
• Eukaryotic
• Most are unicellular – with some aggregates or filaments or “colonial”
representatives
• Generally aquatic - moist habitats needed for survival, although some are
parasites
• Contains groups with alliances to Plants, Fungi and Animal Kingdoms
• Reproduction commonly by asexual fission as well as sexual reproduction,
involving meiosis and syngamy (gamete fusion) particularly when
environmental conditions are less favorable

Protists vary in the following:

• Maintain osmotic balance using contractile vacuole or cell walls
• Photosynthetic or Heterotrophic, or with Euglena, both
• Heterotrophs may absorb digested nutrients or take in food and digest within
food vacuoles
• Photosynthetic protists have a variety of accessory pigments that lend
characteristic color to the organisms
• Metabolically diverse with aerobic respiration Æ anaerobes and some, lacking
mitochondria rely on mutualistic bacteria.
• Some encyst (with lowered metabolism) to avoid harsh conditions
• Life history may be haploid or diploid, and some kelps have alternation of
generations
 Protista - 2

• Motility
Cilia
Flagella
Pseudopodia
Non-motile
• Some have photo receptors or chemoreceptors for responding to their
surroundings
• Fuel storage molecules are variable

Current research on protist classification relies on nucleic acid sequencing and

common evolutionary patterns. Groups that share common evolutionary patterns
are called monophyletic. (If not, they are polyphyletic.) The groups and Phyla
currently included in the Protista (based on nucleic acid sequencing) are:

Archaezoa
Diplomonada
Trichomonada
Microsporidia
Euglenozoa
Euglenophyta - Photosynthetic Flagellates
Kinetoplastida - Non-Photosynthetic Flagellates
Alveolata
Dinophyta or Pyrrophyta - Dinoflagellates
Apicomplexa or Sporozoa - Non-Motile Protists
Ciliophora - Ciliates
Stramenopila
Bacillariophyta - Diatoms
Oömycota – Egg Fungi
Chrysophyta - Chrysophytes
Phaeophyta - Brown Algae or Kelps
Cryptophyta - Cryptomonads
Haptophyta - Haptophytes
Rhodophyta - Red Algae

Not Yet Allied into Candidate Kingdom(s)

Amoeba-Like Protists
Rhizopoda - Amoebas
Actinopoda - Radiolarians and Heliozoans
Foraminifera - Forams
Slime Molds (allied to Amoeba- like protists)
Myxomycota - Plasmodial slime molds
Dictyostelliomycota or Acrasiomycota - Cellular slime molds
Plus
Chlorophyta - Green Algae
 Protista - 3

Now for a bit more information on the Protist groups:

Archaezoa
• Lack mitochondria
• Three Phyla comprised of extant representatives of relict organisms
Diplomonada
Flagellates
No plastids
Two nuclei
Simple cytoskeleton
Example:
Giardia
Trichomonada
Trichomonas vaginalis (Common STD)
Microsporidia
?
Euglenozoa
• Motile unicellular flagellates
Flagella arise from an anterior pocket
• Elongate body
• Cyst-forming when conditions unfavorable
• Reproduction by longitudinal fission
• Mostly free-living (A few important parasitic species)
• Secrete a pellicle of protein strips beneath the plasma membrane that can
be rigid or flexible
Kinetoplastida - Heterotrophic Flagellates
Have one large mitochondrion
Parasitic Example
Trypanosoma
Agent of Sleeping Sickness
Vector is Tsetse Fly
Endosymbiont of termites
Helps to digest cellulose with its endobacteria

Euglenophyta - Photosynthetic Flagellates (although some heterotrophic

flagellates are included, too)
Contain Chlorophyll a and b
Typically have vitamin requirements
Fuel reserve is paramylon (a carbohydrate)
Photoreceptors common
Example
Euglena
 Protista - 4

Alveolata
The phyla in the Alveolata have small membrane bounded cavities beneath the
plasma membrane, called alveoli. May function in stabilizing and regulating water
and ion balance. They are otherwise dissimilar.
Dinophyta or Pyrrophyta – Dinoflagellates
• Unicellular
• Two flagella in grooves in the periplast, formed by cellulose plates
(which are very distinctive in micrographs)
• Photosynthetic containing chlorophyll and xanthophylls (responsible for
reddish and brownish pigmentation) or derived parasites
• Bioluminescence is common (Luciferin)
• Reproduction by fission
• Human Role
Plankton blooms
Toxicity
• Gonyaulax and red tides
• Paralytic shell-fish poisoning
• Fish toxins, especially ciguatera poisoning of tropical
fishes which is a potent nerve toxin
Some Dinoflagellates form zooxanthellae and are endosymbionts of corals

Apicomplexa or Sporozoa - Non-Motile Protists

• All parasitic
Obtain nutrients by absorption from host
• Multiple stages in life history common
May include multiple hosts; the infectious stage is a sporozoite
• Motility in mature forms absent
Gametes may have flagella or move by pseudopodia
• Many produce "spores" by multiple fissions
Human Importance
Pathogens!
Plasmodium vivax and P. falciparum
Cause malaria (Vector is Anopheles mosquito)
Historically caused more deaths than any other disease
Life History of Malaria
• Mosquito transmits sporozoite stage to human
• Sporozoite reproduces asexually in human liver cells,
producing merozoites
• Merozoites invade rbc's and reproduce asexually in large
numbers, invading more rbc's
• Some merozoites may function as gametes
• Female mosquito obtains gametes from human blood
• Gametes sexually fuse in mosquito.
• Zygotes produce sporozoites.
Toxoplasma
 Protista - 5

Alveolata (con’t)
Ciliophora -- Ciliated Protists
• Heterotrophic
• Motility by cilia
Cilia may be in coordinated rows (membranelles)
Cilia may be in coordinated clumps (cirri)
• May have an elaborate membrane structure
• May secrete a pellicle with trichocysts
defense
predation
• Many feed by movement of cilia which draws food into "gullet"
• Some are aggressive predators, engulfing "large" prey
• Two nucleus types
Macronucleus
Controls normal metabolism
Not mitotic
Micronuclei
Reproduction
May have several copies of each nucleus type
• Reproduction by Conjugation
• Examples
Paramecium
Didinium
Stentor
 Protista - 6

Stramenopila
• Two flagellated cells with hairs coating the surface of the flagella is the
reason these phyla are grouped together
• The chloroplasts of photosynthetic members are large and often elaborate,
and have multiple membranes, indicating that they are double or secondary
endosymbionts (chloroplasts from red algae who engulfed cyanobacteria)

Bacillariophyta - Diatoms
Freshwater and marine
About 6000 – 10,000 species
Abundant fossils (diatomaceous earth)
Cell walls overlapping halves, called frustules
Walls contain silica and pectins, no cellulose
Reproduction mostly fission. Each fission makes a new bottom half so
some cells get smaller and smaller with subsequent divisions.
Photosynthetic
Pigments include chlorophyll a, fucoxanthins and carotenes
Fuel storage is leucosin, an oil
Human Impact
Paints, filters, insulation, significant aquatic O2 producers

Oömycota – Egg Fungi

Non-septate vegetative hyphae (coenocytic)
Water molds and parasitic members
Sexual reproductive structures, oögonium and antheridium
Form oöspores
Produce motile, 2-flagellated zoospores, which may encyst
Cell walls contain d-glucose units forming a modified cellulose
Generally diploid
Examples
Downy mildews
Potato blight – Phytophora infestans
Tomato blight of 1946 – Phytophora sp. (50% of US tomato crop)
Plasmopara viticola on grapes led to first “pesticide” in 1870’s
Bordeaux mix (CuSO4, H2O and CaCO3)

Chrysophyta - Chrysophytes
Golden algae from carotene and xanthophyll pigments
Two flagella attached near apex of cell
Some colonial
May be both photosynthetic and heterotrophic
 Protista - 7

Stramenopila (con’t)
Phaeophyta - Brown Algae or Kelps
Marine tidal zone to 75 feet deep in temperate waters
Tremendous areas of ocean – the Sargasso Sea is formed from kelps
from the Bahamas to the Azores
Sizes to 10O feet
Color -- brown to olive brown
All multicellular
Pigments -- Chlorophyll a and fucoxanthin
Food reserve -- laminarin and mannitol
Produce tannins
Body Form has a Holdfast, Stipe, Lamina (Blade) and
Air bladders for buoyancy
Cell walls have cellulose and water-resistant gels to minimize
dehydration in tide zones and provide cushioning.
Have meristems and some have conducting cells
Well defined alternation of diploid and haploid generations
sporophyte (diploid stage) dominant
Reproductive cells flagellated
Vegetative Reproduction by Fragmentation, Propagules, or Zoospores
Human Importance
Alginate – stabilizer in many foods
Kelps for KI
Fertilizer
Food source - Kombu
Major groups
Laminariales
Fucales

Cryptophyta – Cryptomonads
No cell wall but stiff protein plates in submembrane layer
Tiny size
Store polyunsaturated fatty acids (cold environment adapted)
Have vitamin requirements but may photosynthesize
Reduced nucleus
Prized plankton food item

Haptophyta – Haptophytes
Marine phytoplankton
Produce a haptonema, a threadlike structure surrounded by two
flagella. The haptonema can bend and coil, and may be used to attract
prey.
Cell covered by scales of calcified organic materials, called coccoliths.
 Protista - 8

Rhodophyta - Red Algae

97% marine
Size to 3 feet, depths to more than 300 feet (260 M in one case)
Colors -- red, purple, black
Shapes
Unicells, Branching filaments, Sheetlike
No flagellated cells
Pigments
Phycobiliproteins (Phycocyanin, Phycoerythrin)
absorb blue and green light in deeper water
Chlorophyll a
Reproduction
Gametophyte
Forms gametes
Gametes fuse to form Sporophyte
Sporophyte may make many types of sporangia and spores
Carpospores (non sexual)
Tetraspores
Meiospores which develop in gametophyte
Life History: zygote in carpogonium Æ carposporophyte Æ carposporangia Æ
carpospores Æ tetrasporophyte Æ tetrasponangia Æ meiosis Æ tetraspores
Æ gametophyte Æ spermatangia and carpogonia Æ sperm and eggs Æ zygote
Human Importance
Emulsifier and stabilizer
Carageen
Food
Nori
Agar growth medium from Gellidium
Coral reef formation
Examples
Coralline algae
Polysiphonia
Porphyra
 Protista - 9

Amoeba-Like Protists (Sarcodina)

• Heterotrophic
• Motility by pseudopodia
• Many secrete shells
• Feed by phagocytosis (using pseudopodia)
• Asexual organisms
• Majority free-living aquatic
Notable exception -- Entamoeba histolytica (Amoeboid dysentery)

Rhizopoda - Amoebas
Actinopoda - Radiolarians and Heliozoans
Pseudipodia, called axiopodia, are slender and protrude through
“skeleton”
Secrete Silica shells or chitin in some heliozoans
Marine (radiolarians) and fresh water (hekiozoans)
Foraminifera – Forams
Secrete calcareous shells
Fossil forams used as tracers for oil deposits and aging sediments
Fossil deposits form huge "Chalk Cliffs"
Marine
May have Endosymbiont algae

Slime Molds (allied to Amoeba- like protists)

• Phagotrophic heterotrophs
• Lack cell walls
• Life History encompasses several morphological stages
Myxomycota - Plasmodial slime molds
Naked protoplasm or multinucleate plasmodium stage
Nuclei are generally diploid
Heterotrophic (Phagotrophic)
Produce sclerotia for resistance
Produce sporangia for sexual reproduction. Meiotic cells are swarm
cells and myxamoebae. Fusion produces plasmodium
Life History: spore Æ myxamoebae(swarm cells) Æ plasmogamy Æ zygote Æ
plasmodium Æ Sporophore Æ sporocarp Æ spore

Dictyosteliomycota or Acrasiomycota - Cellular slime molds

Alternate between amoeboid cells, flagellated cells and plasmodium
stage (called a slug) which is multicellular not multinucleate
Nuclei are generally haploid
Myxamoebae common but not swarm cells
Produce asexual fruiting bodies
Life History: spore Æ myxamoebae(lots of fission) Æ aggregation (stimulus
is AMP to acrasin secreted by myxamoeba) Æ speudoplasmodium Æ migration
Æ Sorophore Æ sorus (fruiting body) Æ spore
 Protista - 10

Chlorophyta - Green Algae

Direct link to Plants via common pigments, colonial forms, fuel storage,
telomerase in gametes, etc.
7000 species
Mostly freshwater
Shapes
Unicellular
Colonial
Filaments
Sheet-like (thallus)
Color -- Mostly "grass-green"
Cell walls have cellulose and pectin
Food reserve is starch (stored in pyrenoids)
Pigments -- chlorophyll a and b, carotenoids -- like higher plants
Reproduction
Vegetative - Fission, Fragmentation
Sexual: Isogamy, Anisogamy, Oogamy, Conjugation
Life cycle
Dominant generation usually haploid
Classes
Charophyceae
Contain CaCO3 in walls
Macroscopic and have apical growth
Chlorophyceae
All other greens
Examples
Desmids
Spirogyra
Ulva
Chlamydomonas
Volvox
Hydrodictyon