Protist Diversity
BIOL 1407
Protists
• Eukaryotes that
are not plants,
animals or fungi
• Area of intense
research
• Taxonomy in flux
Protists ≠ Clade
• Informal Groups:
– Algae
– Protozoans
– Fungal-like protists
•
Photo Credit of Kelp: Stef Maruch, 2007, Wikimedia
Commons
Body Organization
• Unicellular
• Colonial
• Multicellular
Dinobryon, a colonial golden brown alga
Bonnemaisonia hamifera (a red alga)
Membrane Transport
• Gas
exchange
• Waste
disposal
• Water
balance
• Ion balance
Ciliates (Stentor and Paramaceium)
Water Balance
• Watch videos
of Contractile
Vacuoles
•
http://www.linkpublishing.com/videotransport.htm#Paramecium__Contractile_Vacuoles
•
http://www5.pbrc.hawaii.e
du/allen/ch09/video/vid-1/
Nutrition
• Autotrophs
• Heterotrophs
– Ingestive
– Absorptive
• Mixotrophs
Algae
• Autotrophic protists
• Some mixotrophs
• Important in food
chains in aquatic
habitats
• Includes
– Phytoplankton
– Seaweeds
Euglena
Diatoms
Dinoflagellates
Green Algae: Volvox
Seaweed: Red Algae
Seaweed: Brown Algae
Protozoans
• Ingestive
heterotrophs
• Mostly
unicellular
• Planktonic or
sessile
• Free-living or
parasites
Ciliates
Foraminiferans
Radiolarians
Giardia
Plasmodium
Trypanosoma
Fungal-like Protists
• Resemble fungi
during life cycle
• Make spores
• More closely
related to
amoeboids than
fungi
•
Photo Credit: Dr. Tom Volk,
http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/oct200
3.html
Plasmodial Slime Molds
Cellular Slime Molds
The End
Unless otherwise specified, all images in this presentation came from:
Campbell, et al. 2008. Biology, 8th ed. Pearson Benjamin Cummings.