Kingdom Protista
 Weird things:
 has eukaryotic cells, so they aren’t bacteria or archaea
 doesn’t fit in with the fungi, plants, or animals either
 this kingdom is a ‘catch-all’ for things that we don’t fully
understand their relationships to the rest of life
 Very diverse, so we tend to think of them as which
other kingdom they are most like:
 fungus-like
 plant-like (algae and seaweeds)
 animal-like (protozoans)
 not classified as fungi for various reasons
 have a stage in their life cycle where they are mobile
 sometimes unicellular, sometimes multicellular
 most reproduce using spores
 Two main groups (thought there are more)
 Slime molds
 Water molds
 Mostly heterotrophic decomposers
 Many water molds are parasitic and cause numerous
plant diseases, among other things
Sudden Oak Death
 probably the most familiar protists; include algae and
seaweed
 not classified as plants due to various reasons:
 some are unicellular
 some lack certain tissues that true plants have
 must live in water
 use photosynthesis to obtain food
 many different groups:
 diatoms
 euglena
 green, red, brown, and golden-brown algae
 Uses:
 Diatoms are used in forensics, nanotechnology, and
agriculture
 Seaweeds are an important source of food and have
applications in green energy
 again, not classified as animals for a variety of reasons:
 mostly unicellular
 mostly heterotrophs that live in water
 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
Giardia lamblia
Paramecium
Amoeba
Plasmodium
 Relevance to people:
 disease: giardiasis, malaria, Chagas disease
 scientific research: Paramecium is used as a model
organism in labs
 ecological: many eat bacteria, helping keep their
numbers in check