Kingdom Protista
General Characteristics
• Eukaryotic cell structure
• Some unicellular, others
multicellular
• Some carry on photosynthesis make their own food like plants
Some ingest food - like animals
• Some absorb food - like fungi
3 categories of
Protists
•Animal-like
•Fungus-like
•Plant-like
Animal-like protists: PROTOZOANS
•All heterotrophs
•classified by the 4 ways they move:
1) Cilia - tiny beating hair-like structures
•Coordinated
movement between
individual cilia
2) Flagellum(a) - whip-like tail(s)
•Back and forth
wave motion
Animal-like protists
•classified by the 4 ways they move:
3) Pseudopodia - projection of cytoplasm that
sticks out like a foot (“false
foot”)
4) Sessile - No locomotion (_________)
movement
Animal-like protists Example
1. Amoeba
 comes from the Greek word
amoibe which means “change”
unicellular
moves by pseudopodia which give appearance
of cell changing size and shape

aquatic - lives in ponds, ditches or slowly
moving streams
 can cause disease – amoebic dysentery

ingests small organisms like bacteria and
other protozoans

Animal-like protists - Sarcodines
1. Amoeba
 feeding sequence
psuedopodia surround
and engulf food particle,

and this process
called phagocytosis
Animal-like protists - Ciliates
2. Paramecium
•Unicellular, slipper-shaped
•move by coordinated
beating of many cilia
•aquatic - mostly found in ponds and streams
•usually do not cause diseases in humans
Animal-like protists - Ciliates
2. Paramecium - continued
•Feeding occurs in the funnelshaped gullet (buccal cavity)
where food is drawn in by
external and internal cilia to
form food vacuole
•ingests organic detritus
and other small organisms
like bacteria and other
protozoans
Animal-like protists - Ciliates
2. Paramecium - continued
•Reproduction
1. Binary fission (________)
asexual
N = nucleus
F = Fission plane
Animal-like protists - Ciliates
2. Paramecium - continued
•Reproduction
2. Conjugation (________)
sexual
•Form structure called
conjugation tube to
exchange genetic material
Animal-like protists: The Sporozoan
Characteristics of Sporozoans (Animal-like)
•Sporozoa do not move on their own
•mostly common in tropical areas
•Protist reproduce by forming spores
•They are parasitic
•Diseases
•Malaria: sporozoan carried by mosquitos
•Africa sleeping sickness: zooflagellate, carried
by a fly.
Amebic dysentery: zooflagellate, carried by dirty
PLANT-LIKE PROTIST
•Have chlorophyll
•Make their own food
•They can live in 4 main environments:
•soil
•freshwater
•tree bark
•salt water
•they produce large amounts of oxygen which are
used by other living organisms
•they are grouped according to color & stucture
•into 5 main groups:
2) diatoms
3) dinoflagelletes
1) euglena
4) red dinoflagellates
5) algae
PLANT-LIKE PROTIST Cont’d
•They are grouped according to color & stucture
A) Euglena
B) Diatom
C) Dinoflagellates
D) Red Dinoflagellates
E) Green Algae
PLANT-LIKE PROTIST Cont’d
A) Euglena•Unicelluar alga that
moves with one flagellum
•lives in fresh water
•reproduces asexually
•red eyespot near front end to find light…Why?
to direct light to chloroplast.
•have chlorophyll and can make their own
food (autotroph )
PLANT-LIKE PROTIST Cont’d
B) Diatom
•beautiful unicelluar protists
•come in many shapes
•EX: boats, rods, disks, triangles
•important food source for water dwelling animals
•made of the same material as glass
•used for toothpaste, scouring powders, & filters
PLANT-LIKE PROTIST Cont’d
C) Dinoflagellates
•Half are photosynthetic, and the others are
heterotrophs.
•Most reproduce by binary fission.
•Move by two flagella
•Algae that is usually found in oceans
PLANT-LIKE PROTIST Cont’d
E) Green Algae
•can be unicellular or multicellular
•they produce oxygen in water.
spirogyra
•serve as food for fish, snails, and crayfish
•Found in fresh and salt water.
•Colony – a group of cells that live together
Share many characteristics with plants including
their photosynthetic pigments and cell wall
composition
PLANT-LIKE PROTIST Cont’d
Algae Examples
•Algae reproduce through a process called
alternation of generations –It is the switch
back and forth between haploid and diploid
stages during their life cycle.
•EX: Kelp (brown algae)
HUMAN USES OF ALGAE
• Produce much of the earth’s oxygen
through photosynthesis.
• Chemicals in algae are use to treat
stomach ulcers, high blood pressure, and
arthritis.
• Used in Sushi rolls ,ice cream, salad
dressing, pudding candy bars and pancake
syrups
• Used to make plastics, waxes,
transistors, deodorant, paints lubricants
and artificial wood
FUNGUS-LIKE PROTIST
Slime Molds:
•fungus-like protists that are consumers
•live in cool, damp places EX: forest floor
•feed on bacteria growing on rotting logs and
decaying leaves
•some are parasites (very few)
Plants, Fungi & Animal
Cells
• Plants Only
• Animals Only
• Cell wall of
cellulose
• Central vacuole
• Chloroplasts

• Lysosomes
• Centrioles
Fungi Only
– Cell wall of chitin
– Central vacuole
– No chloroplasts
Directions: Write out & highlight the following
questions
1) List the three main (groups) types of protists?
2) Give two examples of animal-like protists.
3) What are sporozoans? Give one example.
4) List the 3 structures protozoan use for
locomotion.
5) List 5 plant-like protists?
6) Why are algae important?