Kingdom Protista

Domain Eukarya

What is a protist?

Weird things:has eukaryotic cells, so they aren’t bacteria or

archaeadoesn’t fit in with the fungi, plants, or animals

eitherthis kingdom is a ‘catch-all’ for things that we

don’t fully understand their relationships to the rest of life

What is a protist?

Very diverse, so we tend to think of them as which other kingdom they are most like: fungus-likeplant-like (algae and seaweeds)animal-like (protozoans)

How do we group protists?

not classified as fungi for various reasonshave a stage in their life cycle where they are

mobilesometimes unicellular, sometimes multicellular

most reproduce using spores

Fungus-like protists

Two main groups (thought there are more)Slime moldsWater molds

Mostly heterotrophic decomposers

Fungus-like protists

Many water molds are parasitic and cause numerous plant diseases, among other things

Fungus-like protists

Sudden Oak Death

probably the most familiar protists; include algae and seaweed

not classified as plants due to various reasons:some are unicellularsome lack certain tissues that true plants havemust live in water

Plant-like protists

use photosynthesis to obtain foodmany different groups:

diatomseuglenagreen, red, brown, and golden-brown algae

Plant-like protists

Uses:Diatoms are used in forensics, nanotechnology,

and agricultureSeaweeds are an important source of food and

have applications in green energy

Plant-like protists

again, not classified as animals for a variety of reasons:mostly unicellular

mostly heterotrophs that live in water

Animal-like protists

often grouped by how they move:flagellates (move using a flagella)ciliates (move by using cilia)amoebas (move using pseudopodia)

there is an additional group that is entirely parasitic:sporozoans

Animal-like protists

Giardia lamblia Paramecium Amoeba Plasmodium

Relevance to people:disease: giardiasis, malaria, Chagas diseasescientific research: Paramecium is used as a

model organism in labs ecological: many eat bacteria, helping keep

their numbers in check

Animal-like protists