GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PROTISTS

1. Cell Type

- All protists are eukaryotes, meaning each of their cells has a nucleus containing the DNA, unlike
bacteria where it is spread throughout the cytoplasm. In addition to the nucleus, protists have additional
organelles. Some protists have chloroplasts, some have mitochondria, and some have
lysosomes.

2. Number of Cells

- A majority of protists are unicellular. The small size allows them to use diffusion to
exchange gases or release waste products. Some genera of unicellular protists are
Euglena, Paramecium, and Amoeba. There are also multicellular protists such as kelp
and algae. Some groups of multicellular protists are Volvox, Phaeophyta, and
Rhodophyta, which are all algae.

3. Nutrition Acquisition Figure 1: Euglena

gracilis is an example
- Protists show different of unicellular protist.
methods of getting nutrition.
Some are photosynthetic autotrophs, which mean
that they make their own food by sunlight. Some
are heterotrophs, which eat other organisms for
nutrition. Some protists may even exhibit both
ways of acquiring nutrition. An example of a
heterotrophic protist is the amoeba, where it
Figure 2: Amoeba using phagocytosis to eat a engulfs a prey using phagocytosis or cell feeding.
paramecium.

4. Habitat

- Most protists are aquatic organisms. They moist environments

to survive are found in places with enough water. Some protists
are free-living organisms or they live in ponds, lakes, marshes,
etc. while some are symbionts or they live inside organisms such
as humans. An example of a symbiotic protist is the genus Figure 3: A red blood cell infected
Plasmodium where they come inside humans through mosquito by protists from genus Plasmodium.
bites and cause malaria.
 5. Reproduction

- Since this kingdom is diverse, there are protists that

reproduce sexually or asexually or even both, depending
sometimes on environmental conditions such as amount of
sunlight or temperature. An example of a protist that
reproduces both sexually and asexually is the genus
Spirogyra. A Spirogyra cell is haploid, which means it has
Figure 4: An image of how Spirogyra one copy of chromosomes in the nucleus, so it usually
reproduce sexually reproduces by means of binary fission. It will only
procreate with other cells in harsh conditions, such as winter, by
making zygospores that are resistant to cold weather.

6. Modes of Transportation

- There are different ways of how protist can move in one place to another. Most commonly are the use of
flagella, cilia, and pseudopods. Protists use flagella in a whip-like manner. It is the same as cilia, except
that the cilia are spread all over the organism’s body, while the flagella only appear in a certain part. Both
flagella and cilia are made up of a part of the cytoplasm supported by microtubules. These allow them to
move. Pseudopods, on the other hand, are also from the cytoplasm but are not supported by microtubules.
Some protists with flagella are Trypanosomes, some with cilia are Paramecia, and some with pseudopods
are Amoeba.

Figure 5: Trypanosomes Figure 6: A paramecium with Figure 7: Amoeba using

moving with flagella hairlike cilia pseudopods
7. Classification of Protists: Animal-Like

- There are 3 classification of protists depending if they’re animal-like, plant-like, or fungi-like. Animal-
like protists are also known as Protozoa. Like animals, they can move and prey on other organisms. These
protists are very small. Examples of animal-like protists are already shown by Figure 5-7.

8. Classification of Protists: Plant-Like

- Plant-like protists are known by the name of algae.

They are called plant-like since they have chloroplasts
and therefore have the ability to photosyntesize their
own food. The usually live in water. A major difference
between these protists and plants is the complexity.
Plants usually have leaves, roots, and stems, while algae Figure 8: A microscopic look at Spirogyra
is simply unicellular. An example of algae is Spirogyra.
9. Classification of Protists: Fungus-Like

- Fungus-like protists are divided into two: slime molds and water molds. They are called fungus-like
since they reproduce by using spores and they also feed on decaying organic matter. Unlike animal-like
protists, molds have limited movement. A major difference between a real fungus and a fungus-like
protists is that the molds’ cell wall is not made up of chitin but of cellulose. An example of slime mold is
the Stemonitis which feed on rotting logs. An exampleof a water mold is the Phytopthora, which is the
culprit behing the Great Irish Potato Famine back in the 1800s.

Figure 9: Stemonitis growing on Figure 2: Phytopthora living on plant root

decaying wood

10. Background History

- Ernst Haeckel, a German zoologist, first proposed the Kingdom Protista in 1866. This was to put
organisms that are neither plant nor animal. This was not accepted by biologists back then and was put
back by Robert Whittaker in his five-kingdom system of classification. At first, only unicellular
organisms are included, but as the kingdom grew, it also included multicellular organisms.

Sources:

https://www.encyclopedia.com/plants-and-animals/microbes-algae-and-fungi/moneran-and-
protistan/protista

https://www.thoughtco.com/protista-kingdom-of-life-4120782

https://www.ck12.org/book/CK-12-Life-Science-Concepts-For-Middle-School/section/6.5/

https://www.biologycorner.com/bio1/notes_plantlikeprotists.html

https://www.ck12.org/biology/protozoa/lesson/Animal-like-Protists-MS-LS/

https://www.britannica.com/science/flagellum

https://www.ck12.org/book/CK-12-Biology-Advanced-Concepts/section/12.4/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ