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1.4 Domain Eukarya : Kingdom Protista

At the end of the lesson students should be able to:

(a) C1 - State the unique characteristics of Protista

(b) C1 - State the classification of Protista based on the unique

features :
– Two major phyla of Algae (photosynthetic
pigments)
– Four major phyla of Protozoa (locomotion)

(c) C3 - Explain the importance of Protista

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 a) State the unique characteristics of Protista

Unique Characteristics of Protista

• Eukaryotic protists
• most are unicellular, some are colonial unicellular and simple
multicellular

• Nutritional mode: autotrophic nutrition, heterotrophic nutrition or

mixotrophic nutrition

• Mostly have one nucleus and membrane bounded organelles

• Some reproduce asexually, others can also reproduce sexually

• Need water-based environment

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b) State the classification of Protista based on the unique features

Classification of Protista

Phylum Chlorophyta
Group Chlamydomonas sp.
Algae Phylum Phaeophyta
2 major phyla Fucus sp.
based on
Kingdom photosynthetic
Phylum Euglenophyta
Protista pigments Euglena sp.
Phylum Rhizopoda
Group Amoeba sp.
Protozoa Phylum Apicomplexa
4 major phyla Plasmodium sp.
based on
Phylum Ciliophora
locomotion
Paramecium sp.
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 Unique Characteristics of Algae

• Unicellular (e.g.: Chlamydomonas sp.)

• Some multicellular (e.g.: Fucus sp.)

• Plant-like
Unicellular Multicellular

Chlamydomonas sp. Fucus sp. 5

 Unique Characteristics of Algae

● Plant-like protists that

– carry out photosynthesis
– have cell wall

● Contain photosynthetic pigments

– Chlorophyll a and b (Phylum Chlorophyta)
– Chlorophyll a, c, xanthophyll and other
carotenoids (Phylum Phaeophyta)

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 Unique Characteristics of Algae
● Carbohydrate storage:
– Starch (Phylum Chlorophyta)
– Laminarin and mannitol (Phylum Phaeophyta)

● Diversity in cell organisation – some unicellular, some

multicellular

● Habitat : damp environment - ocean, ponds, moist habitat

with low light intensity

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 Chlamydomonas sp.

● Has 2 flagella
● Has cup-shaped chloroplast
● Has red pigmented ‘eye
spot’ as photoreceptor

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 Fucus sp.

• Containing chlorophyll a and c, carotenoids &

fucoxanthin
• Stored food: laminarin (not starch)
• Thallus body
• Blades : associated with air bladders for
buoyancy.
• Holdfast - root-like, to anchor or attach on the
rock surface.
• Stipes – stem
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* Example is not a part of differentiation
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 Unique Characteristics of Protozoa

• In Latin, means “first/early/primitive animals”

• Unicellular

• Animal-like protist

• Mostly are holozoic that ingest food : have food

vacuoles

• Euglena sp. is mixotrophic - can be holozoic and

autotrophic
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 Unique Characteristics of Protozoa

• Reproduce asexually by binary fission, but may

reproduce sexually

• Diverse habitat – in ocean, freshwater rivers and

ponds, damp soils for free-living protozoa and live
inside other organisms for parasitic protozoa.

• Many species of protozoa are zooplanktons.

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 Four major phyla of Protozoa
(Based on locomotion)

Amoeba sp. Paramecium Euglena sp. Plasmodium

sp. sp.

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 Paramecium

Amoeba

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 PROTOZOA
Phylum Euglenophyta : Euglena sp.

● Have one long flagellum on its anterior end, another

flagellum is short
● Presence of chloroplast
● Absence of cell wall
● Mixotrophic

http://protist.i.hosei.ac.jp/pdb/images/Mastigophora/Euglena/sp_4/sp_4.html
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 PROTOZOA
Phylum Rhizopoda : Amoeba sp.

● Have pseudopodia (false feet)

● Holozoic
● Habitat: freshwater, ocean, inside living organism

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 PROTOZOA
Phylum Ciliophora : Paramecium sp.

● Have cilia for locomotion

● Habitat: fresh water & salt water
● Holozoic
● Have two nuclei
○ macronucleus
○ micronucleus
https://www.microscopemaster.com/paramecium.html

https://www.britannica.com/science/Paramecium-
caudatum

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 PROTOZOA
Phylum Apicomplexa: Plasmodium sp.

● Have no locomotory extensions of

the body (e.g. pseudopodia,
flagella or cilia)
● Have an apical complex at their
anterior end to penetrate host cell
● Mostly are parasitic

https://www.inds.co.uk/product/plasmodium-
falciparum-blood-smear-with-more-gametocytes/
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Plasmodium-sporozoite-
molecular-cell-biology.-Kappe-
Buscaglia/ca64c8f74fddec427667c60b2cae6f19f70a1d1a/figure/0
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* Example is not a part of differentiation
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 c) Explain the importance of Protista

Importance of Protista
1) Roles in CO2 fixation (e.g. phytoplankton)

▪ Half of CO2 fixation is carried out by marine algae in

the surface layers of oceans

▪ Responsible for half of the O2 released into the

atmosphere by photosynthesis

▪ Producers of aquatic food chains

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 Importance of Protista

2) Food source
• Many of green algae use as food source to human
and animal
• Example : Chlorella sp. high in foliate, as well as a
number of vitamins, minerals, protein and amino
acids.

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 Importance of Protista

3) Eutrophication (green algal bloom)

• Occur when water bodies such as lakes receive
excess nutrient that stimulate excessive alga
growth.
• Excessive algae on the water surface will block the
sunlight from entering the lake
• This will reduces photosynthesis by aquatic plant
• Dissolved oxygen in the water decreases
• Result in the death of aquatic organism.

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Eutrophication (green algal bloom)

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Eutrophication (algal bloom)

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 Importance of Protista

4) Red tide - harmful algal bloom

• Dinoflagellate blooms
• Characterized by explosive population growth of red
algae
• Toxins released have caused massive kill of fishes
and make shellfish dangerous to be eaten.
• The toxins may also make the surrounding air
difficult to breathe.
• This algae bloom turns the water red.

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Red tide

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 Importance of Protista

5) Human health (Plasmodium sp. causing malaria)

• Protozoan Plasmodium sp. is a parasite

• It can lives in two hosts :

– Female Anopheles sp. mosquito (as vector)
– Human

• Causes malaria disease to infected human

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 Importance of Protista

5) Sewage treatment

Algae and protozoa are important organisms in waste

water treatment

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 Importance of Protista

5) Sewage treatment
• Protozoa are one of the most common components in these
man-made ecosystems and play an important role in
wastewater purification processes.
•
• Protozoa consume bacteria, remove pathogen and
pollutants thus improve quality of effluent

• Protozoa are responsible for improving the quality of the

effluent, maintaining the density of dispersed bacterial
populations by predation.

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Domain
Eukarya :
Kingdom
Fungi

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 DOMAIN EUKARYA: KINGDOM FUNGI

At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

a) C1 : State the unique characteristics of Fungi

b) C1 : State the classification of Fungi phyla base on

the spore-bearing structure:
i. Zygomycota (Rhizopus sp.)
ii. Ascomycota (Penicillium sp.)
iii. Basidiomycota (Agaricus sp.)

c) C3 : Explain the role of Fungi

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 a) State the unique characteristics of Fungi

1.5 a) UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS

▪ Mostly multicellular
▪ Eukaryotes
▪ Mode of nutrition: heterotrophic
▪ Saprophytic: release digestive enzymes on decaying
material and then absorb resultant nutrient
molecules.
▪ Some are parasitic.
▪ Several have mutualistic relationship.
▪ Typically not motile, although a few have a motile
phase.

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 UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS

▪ Non-vascular organisms.

▪ Like plants, fungi have an alternation of generations

▪ Reproduce by means of spores, usually wind-

disseminated.

▪ Both sexual (meiotic) and asexual (mitotic) spores

may be produced, depending on the species and
conditions.
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 UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS

▪ Filamentous body plan. The filaments called hyphae.

▪ Hyphae : long, branched and threadlike.
▪ Hyphae form a mass or tissue-like aggregation called
mycelium.
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 UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS

▪ Lack chloroplast, therefore are not dependent on light, can

occupy dark habitats and can grow in any direction.

▪ Cell wall is made up of chitin.

▪ Energy reserve is glycogen, not starch.

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 TYPES OF HYPHAE

There are two types of hyphae (singular:hypha):

i. Septate: Hyphae are divided by cross walls, called septa
(singular: septum), into individual cells containing one or
more nucleus.
ii. Nonseptate (coenocytic): hyphae not divided into cells,
consist of a continuous cytoplasmic mass having
multinuclei.
 SPECIALIZED HYPHAE : HAUSTORIA

Haustoria : Nutrients absorbing hyphal tips that

penetrate the tissues of host cells.
Present in mutualistic and parasitic fungi
Function : extract nutrient from living plant

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b) State the classification of Fungi phyla base on the spore-bearing structure

Classification of Fungi

Phylum Phylum Phylum

Zygomycota Ascomycota Basidiomycota
Eg: Rhizopus sp. Eg: Penicillium sp. Eg: Agaricus sp.
conidia

conidiophore

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 ZYGOMYCOTA

▪ Example : Rhizopus sp.

▪ Common types: black bread mold.
▪ Important decomposers; some are insect parasites;
other species as commensal symbionts
▪ Asexual reproduction: haploid spores produced in
sporangia.
▪ Sexual reproduction: zygospores develop in
zygosporangia.
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 ASCOMYCOTA

▪ Example : Penicillium sp.

▪ Common types: yeasts, powdery mildews, molds,
morels, truffles.
▪ commonly called sac fungi
▪ Important decomposer; form important symbiotic
relationships as lichens and mycorrhizae.
▪ Asexual reproduction: conidia pinch off from
conidiophores.
▪ Sexual reproduction: ascospores develop in asci.
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 BASIDIOMYCOTA

▪ Example : Agaricus sp.

▪ Common types: mushrooms, bracket fungi, puffballs,
rusts, smuts.
▪ commonly called club fungus
▪ Important decomposer; form mycorrhizae with tree
roots; plant parasites.
▪ Asexual reproduction: Uncommon.
▪ Sexual reproduction: basidiospores develop on club-
shaped basidia.
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 Phylum Zygomycota Phylum Ascomycota Phylum
Basidiomycota
Sexual spores Zygospores Ascospores Basidiospores

Sexual Zygosporangium Asci (ascus ~singular), Basidia

reproductive found within ascocarps (basidium~sing.),
structure found in basidiocarps

Hyphae Coenocytic (Aseptate) Septate Septate

Sexual Fusion of gametangia Formation of ascus. Formation of basidia.

reproduction produces zygospores. Ascus produces Basidium produces
Involves conjugation. ascospores. basidiospores on the
outside.

Asexual Involves spores Involves Conidia (uncommon)

reproduction produced in dispersed off from end of
sporangia. conidiophores
* Disseminate by
* Air, insects & water * Wind

Common types Mucor, Rhizopus sp. Penicilium sp. & Mushrooms ( Agaricus
Saccharomyces sp. compestris )52
Fungi : Difference in sexual reproductive structure

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C) Explain the role of Fungi

IMPORTANCE OF FUNGI

1. Decomposers
▪ Decomposers that absorb nutrients from organic wastes and
dead organism.
▪ When fungi degrade wastes and dead organisms, water, carbon
(as CO2), and mineral components of organic compounds are
released, and these elements are recycled.
 IMPORTANCE OF FUNGI

2. Symbionts
▪ Some fungi form mutualistic relationships with other
organisms. For example:

i. Mycorrhizae (between fungi and plant roots).

Fungus provides minerals from the soil for the
plant, and the plant provides organic nutrients.
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 IMPORTANCE OF FUNGI

• Lichens, association between a fungus and

green algae.

• Specialised fungal hyphae penetrate

photosynthetic cells and transfer nutrients
directly to the fungus. It can live in areas of
extreme conditions and contribute to soil
formation.
 IMPORTANCE OF FUNGI

3. Pathogens
▪ Fungi can become pathogens, cause many
important diseases such as ringworm,
athlete’s foot and candidiasis (a yeast
infection of mucous membranes of the mouth,
throat, or vagina).

▪ Some fungi that attack food crops produce

compounds that are harmful to humans.
▪ Example of pathogenic fungi : Candida,
Aspergillus, Histoplasma, Pneumocystis and
Stachybotrys.

▪ Another example is Cryptococcus neoformans

which causes severe meningitis in people who
are infected with HIV or have AIDS.

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 IMPORTANCE OF FUNGI
4. Commercial importance in food production (fermented
food)
▪ The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the most important of
all cultured fungi. It is available as many strains of baker’s
yeast (bread making) and brewer's yeast (winery/brewery).

▪ The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae changes sugars into

carbon dioxide and alcohol through aging

▪ Although yeast is an alcohol fermenting microorganism, it

plays a very important role in the production of vinegar

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 IMPORTANCE OF FUNGI

5. Pharmaceutical (penicillin)

▪ Some fungi produce antibiotics used to treat bacterial

infections. The first antibiotic discovered was penicillin, made
by the ascomycete mold Penicillium sp.