Protists and Fungi
Kingdoms
Chapter 9
What is a protist?
• A single or many-celled
organism that lives in moist or
wet surroundings.
What are properties of the
protist kingdom?
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Eukaryotic
One or many-celled
Some move
Some make their own food
Some obtain it from others
It is believed that protists evolved from
bacteria. Scientists believe this because
protists are more complex than bacteria.
Scientists also believe that protists are the
ancestors of fungi, plants and animals.
Protists that make their own food are thought
to be the ancestors of plants, which makes
sense because plants make their own food as
well. It is hard to figure out the evolution of
protists because they have such soft bodies
meaning that many did not fossilize.
There are plant-like protists and animal-like
protists.
Plant-like protists:
Protists that are plant-like are
called algae. They can be onecalled or many celled. All make
their own food because they
contain the pigment chlorophyll.
Euglena are characterized as both plant
and animal. They have chlorophyll so
they make their own food. Unlike plants,
Euglena do not have cell walls. They
move by using flagella. They also have
an eyespot that is sensitive to light.
Having the eyespot and the flagella make
them animal like.
Diatoms make their own food, are one-celled
and store their food in the form of an oil.
They look golden brown but they still have
chlorophyll, it is just masked by the brown
color. When they die, they leave behind a
shell, collect in large numbers on the bottom
of bodies of water. These shells are used for
insulation, filters and road paints. They are
what makes road lines sparkle and make your
toothpaste have a crunch when you brush your
teeth.
Dinoflagellates, also known as fire
algae, is one-celled. It is called fire
algae because it has a red pigment
along with its chlorophyll.
Dinoflagellate means spinning
flagellates. It spins similar to a top.
They store their food in the form of
starch and oil. They live in salt
water mostly.
Green algae have chlorophyll and go
through photosynthesis to make
starch. They can live in water and
live in moist areas on land. They
also can be one-celled or manycelled.
Red algae are found in things that you
eat and use. Pudding and toothpaste is
made with red algae. The carrageenan
that is in red algae give these two things
their smooth texture. Most of them are
many-celled. There is not a lot of light
where they live so their pigment helps
them to catch the light that does get
down that deep underwater. They need
this limited light to make their food.
Brown algae is many-celled. It is a food
source to a lot of fish and invertebrates
in the water. Fish and other animals live
in the leaves of this alga. Brown algae is
eaten by some cultures. The
carbohydrate that it makes is used in
food such as ice cream and
marshmallows. It is also used for
fertilizer.
Animal-like protists:
They are known as protozoa.
They live in water, soil, and in
both living and dead organisms.
Many are parasites. There are
four kinds of protozoans. They
are sarodines, flagellates, ciliates,
and sporozoans.
An amoeba is an example of a
rhizopoda. They get their food and
move using pseudopods. Pseudopods
are a temporary extension of the
cytoplasm. They are called false feet.
They trap food by: extending their
pseudopods (by cytoplasmic
streaming) around the food particle.
They close around the food particle
trapping it in. A vacuole then forms
around the food particle.
Flagellates: protists that use flagella to
move around. They have one or more
flagella that whip through water. Most
live in fresh water and some are
parasites. An example would be the
parasite that causes African sleeping
sickness. Another example would be the
flagellates that lives in the digestive tract
of termites. If these were not there then
termites would not be able to digest their
food, which is wood.
Ciliates: These are the most complex
of the protists. They move by using
cilia. Cilia are: short, thread-like
structures that extend from the cell
membrane. Use in movement and
grabbing food.
Most common of the ciliates is the
paramecium. Food gets swept into
the oral groove. The food then goes
into a food vacuole.
Fungus-like protists:
Some fungus-like protists have
characteristics of both protists and fungi.
One example would be slime molds.
They usually are very brightly colored.
The cells of these protists work like
amoebas. They have pseudopods. They
produce spores for reproduction like
fungi do. They are mostly found on
decaying logs or dead leaves in moist,
cool, shady areas.
Other examples would be water molds,
downy mildew and white rusts. They
live in water or moist places. Water
molds are fuzzy things on stuff that is
decaying. One kind of fungus-like
protist caused the potato famine in
Ireland. They have a cell wall like fungi
but they have simple cells like those of
protozoa. Water mold causes diseases in
many plants.
Where can you find fungi in your
kitchen?
You can find mushrooms, mold,
yeast and many more that you
might not even see!!
What is the importance of fungi?
They break down and decompose
organic materials. Remember that
organic materials are anything that
has carbon in it. These would be be
food matter, dead animals or plants
and clothing. They help return the
material to the soil. They are the
natural recyclers
What are the characteristics of
fungi? Fungi are Eukaryotic, one
or many-celled, DON’T move
and DO NOT make their own
food…they obtain it from other
organisms. Their body is made
up of tiny, thread-like tubes
called hyphae.
What are spores? Reproductive
cells the form new organisms
without fertilization. How spores
are produced decide what group a
fungi belongs to.
What are they used for?
They are used so that fungi can
reproduce.
What is an example of zygote
fungi?
Fuzzy black mold that you see on
breads and fruit and other food in
your fridge.
What are sporangia?
The round cases that Zygote
fungi keep their spores. When it
splits open, millions of spores are
released into the air. If the spore
lands in a moist place, then more
mold will grow where the spore
lands.
What are some examples of sac
fungi?
Yeast, mold, morels and truffles
What is an ascus?
The sac that spores of sac fungi
are found! Spores are released
when the sac breaks open.
Why are sac fungi harmful?
They destroy crops, and causes
diseases on plants. It can also be
helpful. We use yeast to make
bread, a lot of people eat truffles
and morels. They are are very
expensive.
What is budding?
When a new organism grows off
the side of the parent. This is a
form of asexual reproduction.
Some fungi reproduce through
budding over reproducing with
spores.
Where are spores produced in
club fungi?
They are produced in a basidium.
This is a club looking structure.
The spores lay on what look like
gills on the fungi.
How are club fungi economically
important?
They can cause crop damage
(rusts and smuts). Humans also
eat some kinds of mushroom.
FYI…never eat a wild mushroom
unless you know that it is not
poisonous!!
What is an important example of
imperfect fungi?
Penicillium…the fungi used to
make penicillin
Other examples would be the
imperfect fungi that causes
athlete’s foot and ringworm.
What is a lichen?
An organism that is made of
fungi and either a green alga or a
cyanobacteria. These two have a
relationship with each other
where both benefit. The alga get
a moist area to live in, that is
protected and the fungus gets its
food from the alga.
What is the importance of lichen?
They are food to many animals.
They help with erosion (they give
off an acid that breaks down rocks
and cause them to erode away.
They also help in monitoring
pollution. Lichens die when there
is an increase in pollution.