INTRODUCTION TO PROTOZOOLOGY:

MORPHOLOGY AND CLINICALLY

SIGNIFICANT PROTOZOANS
Prepared by: Renz Victor T. Guangco, M.D.
 INTRODUCTION TO PROTOZOOLOGY

• Protozoans are eukaryotic microorganisms that,

together with algae, are classi ed under kingdom
protista

• Most protozoans are unicellular organisms that are

free-living and more of animal-like in behavior

• All protozoan cells possess a variety of eukaryotic

structures and organelles

• They are not capable of producing their own food

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 INTRODUCTION TO PROTOZOOLOGY

• Protozoans do not have a cell wall, but some has a

pellicle that functions as the same as the typical
cell wall

• Some ingest food through a primitive mouth called

a cytosome

• Some pond water protozoans contain a contractile

vacuole that serves to pump out excess water out
of the cell
 INTRODUCTION TO PROTOZOOLOGY

• A typical protozoan life cycle consists of two main

stages: The cyst stage and the trophozoite stage:

• The cyst phase - The non-motile, dormant phase

that is concerned more of survival

• The trophozoite phase - The motile, feeding

phase that is capable of reproduction
 INTRODUCTION TO PROTOZOOLOGY

• Some protozoans are parasites: they break down

and absorb nutrients from their “hosts”

• Many parasitic protozoans are pathogens

CLINICALLY SIGNIFICANT PROTOZOANS
 CLINICALLY SIGNIFICANT PROTOZOANS: AMOEBAE

• Moves by cytoplasmic extensions called

“pseudopodia”

• It rst extends a pseudopodium on the direction

where it wants to move then the rest of the body
follows (amoeboid movement)

• An amoeba ingests its food with the use of its

pseudopods via a process called phagocytosis

• The vesicle goes then to the lysozomes to break

down the ingested particles
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CLINICALLY SIGNIFICANT PROTOZOANS: AMOEBAE

• Clinically signi cant amoeba:

• Entamoeba histolytica

• Naeglearia fowleri

• Acanthamoeba spp.
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 CLINICALLY SIGNIFICANT PROTOZOANS: CILIATA

• Classi ed as such because they use their

hair-like extensions called cilia to move

• They exhibit an ore-like motion and is

considered as the most complex among the
protozoans

• The only known ciliate pathogenic to humans

is the Balantidium coli, usually transmitted via
fecal-oral route
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CLINICALLY SIGNIFICANT PROTOZOANS: FLAGELLATA

• They use their agella attached to their body via a

structure called the kinestosome

• The agella is a whiplike structure that is responsible for

their wave-like locomotion

• Some pathogenic agellates: Trypanosoma cruzi,

Trichomonas vaginalis, Giardia lamblia, Giardia duodenalis
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CLINICALLY SIGNIFICANT PROTOZOANS: FLAGELLATA
CLINICALLY SIGNIFICANT PROTOZOANS: SPOROZOA

• Non-motile protozoa

• Does not use pseudopods, cilia, and agella

• Clinically signi cant Sporozoans: Plasmodium

species, Cryptosporidium parvum, Toxoplasma
gondii, Babesia spp., Cyclospora cayetanensis
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END
• Reference: Burton's Microbiology for the Health Sciences, 11th Ed.