Experiment 3 : Fungus-like Protists.

Introduction
Slime mould in woodlands and forests aid in the phagocytization of microorganisms
and decaying material from plants. The two types of slime molds and the water molds are
different in their structure, behavior and nutrition from each other and fungi.
Widely widespread slime molds consume microorganisms found in any kind of decaying
plant material.
These organisms thus are typically found in soil, on the ground in forests, and even on
lawns. Although some species of slime mold can grow to be as large as several square meters,
the majority of them are only a few centimeters in size. Numerous feature eye-catching hues
like brown, white, and yellow.

Materials

● Compound microscope

● Prepared slide of:

i) Phylum Oomycota (water mold) - Achlya

- Saprolegnia

ii) Phylum Gymnomycota (slime mold) - Physarum plasmodium

Procedure

1. a prepared slide was prepared with the high dry objectives.

2. all the organism’s specific structure was identified.

3. all the macroscopic appearance was drawn and labeled of the organisms that we saw in the slide.
 Results

Achlya Saprolegnia

Physarum plasmodium
Post lab Questions:
1. What features distinguish slime molds and water molds from fungi?
2. What are the features of a typical protist?
3. Why are protists so difficult to classify?
4. What are the three informal groups of protests? Describe and give at least three examples
from each group
5. Briefly describe how amoebas obtain their foods.
6. How are ciliates like and different from amoeboids?
7. Describe the unique structure of euglenoids.
8. Describe the structure of diatoms and dinoflagellates. What is a red tide?
9. Describe the structure of red and brown algae. Discuss their economic importance.
10. Describe the structure of Chlamydomonas and Volvox; contrast how they reproduce.
- Chlamydomonas is a green alga that has two flagella for movement and a spherical cell
structure. It has both sexual and asexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction is the fusing of
specialized gametes, whereas asexual reproduction is the division of cells. Volvox, on the
other hand, is a colonial green alga that is made up of a large number of zooids, or
biflagellated cells, arranged in a hollow, spherical matrix. The colony can reproduce both
sexually and asexually. Sexual reproduction is the fusing of gametes created by specialized
reproductive cells, whereas asexual reproduction usually involves the formation of daughter
colonies within the parent colony.

11. Describe the structure of Spirogyra and Oedogonium; contrast how they reproduce.
- Spirogyra consists of long green threads with spiral chloroplasts and reproduces sexually
through genetic exchange between threads and asexually by breaking apart. Similar in
appearance, Oedogonium reproduces sexually through male and female structures and
asexually by releasing spores from specialized structures. Each cell of Oedogonium has a
single chloroplast.

12. Describe the structure of Ulva and explain how its life cycle differs from that of plants.
- Sea lettuce, or Ulva, is a simple structure with a thallus that resembles a leaf and a holdfast
for anchoring. Its life cycle is different from that of plants in that it alternates between two
stages of multicellularity and generations.