Protists
Eukaryotes that aren’t plants, animals, or fungi are called protists .
The kingdom Protista is paraphyletic and thus isn’t considered a true kingdom. True/False
What is the difference between a monophyly and a paraphyly?
Monophyly- clade that includes a common ancestor and all its descendents
Paraphyly- clade that includes a common ancestor but only some of its descendents
Describe the difference between autotrophs, heterotrophs, and mixotrophs.
Autotrophs make their own food, heterotrophs can’t make their own food, mixotrophs can
exist as both auto- and heterotrophs
Chloroplasts and mitochondria were acquired into eukaryotic cells through a process known as
Primary endosymbiosis . Some algae underwent this process again, but they themselves
became engulfed. This time the process was called secondary endosymbiosis .
The clade Excavata includes what groups of protists? Why are they a part of this group?
Diplomonads, parabasalids, and euglenozoans; they are grouped together because of their
cytoskeleton
Diplomonads have modified mitochondria called mitosomes. Since these organisms can’t use
oxygen, they are considered to be anaerobes . They are often parasites such as Giardia which
infects the intestines of mammals.
Euglenozoans include the protists Kinetoplastids and Euglenoplastids (True/False).
Trypanosoma is a kinetoplastid that is spread by the tsetse fly and it causes sleeping sickness.
The clade Chromalveolata includes what two groups of protists?
Alveolates and Stramenopiles
What must organisms have to be considered a member of the alveolates? What groups are
considered to be alveolates?
They must have membrane bound sacs called alveoli that are just under the plasma
membrane. Dinoflagellates, apicomplexans, and ciliates are alveolates.
Dinoflagellates have cells with cellulose plates with flagella embedded in the these plates
(True/False). Red tide is considered a member of this group. They are considered dangerous
because they eat the cells of fish killing them off in mass numbers (True/False).
What deadly disease is a member of the apicomplexans? Name its two hosts.
Plasmodium (malaria); mosquitoes and humans
Name three distinctive features of Ciliates. Describe the purpose of each.
Cilia- used for movement and to obtain food
Macronuclei- contains the genes for the primary functions of the cell (feeding, waste
removal, etc.)
Micronuclei- exchanged during sexual reproduction, forms a new macronuclei during
asexual reproduction
Stramenopiles are named for their characteristic flagellum . The stramenopiles are divided
into 4 groups named: Diatoms, Golden algae, Brown algae, Oomycetes
Diatoms create diatomaceous earth after death due to the large amounts of silica in their
cytoplasm. True/False
Describe the thallus of a brown algae.
Has a holdfast for anchoring, a stipe that supports the blades, and the blades which are the
algae’s photosynthetic surface.
Name the two generations included in the alternation of generations. Which one is haploid and
which one is diploid. Sporophyte- diploid, Gametophyte- haploid
Algae may have both heteromorphic and isomorphic generations.
Oomycetes were originally considered to be plants. True/False
Foraminiferans are distinguished by their distinctive shell called a test .
What is the defining characteristic of amoebas? The pseudopodia
Archaeplastida includes what groups of organisms? Red algae, green algae, and land plants
Unikonta includes what groups of organisms? Amoebozoans, nucleariids, fungi,
choanoflagellates, animals
Slime molds are fungi. True/False
Plasmodial slime molds are multicellular. True/False
Cellular slime molds are capable of functioning individually, but when food is short that will
act as a unit.