Protists are a diverse group of eukaryotic organisms including both single-celled and multicellular forms. Most protists live in aquatic environments like freshwater or oceans, while some inhabit damp soil or the bodies of plants and humans. Protists exhibit a wide range of nutrition, with photosynthetic algae generating energy from sunlight, fungus-like protists decomposing decaying matter, and protozoa ingesting other organisms as food. They reproduce primarily asexually through cell division. Some protists have medical and economic uses including treatment of various health conditions, cell signaling research, and production of food additives and bioplastics.
Protists are a diverse group of eukaryotic organisms including both single-celled and multicellular forms. Most protists live in aquatic environments like freshwater or oceans, while some inhabit damp soil or the bodies of plants and humans. Protists exhibit a wide range of nutrition, with photosynthetic algae generating energy from sunlight, fungus-like protists decomposing decaying matter, and protozoa ingesting other organisms as food. They reproduce primarily asexually through cell division. Some protists have medical and economic uses including treatment of various health conditions, cell signaling research, and production of food additives and bioplastics.
Protists are a diverse group of eukaryotic organisms including both single-celled and multicellular forms. Most protists live in aquatic environments like freshwater or oceans, while some inhabit damp soil or the bodies of plants and humans. Protists exhibit a wide range of nutrition, with photosynthetic algae generating energy from sunlight, fungus-like protists decomposing decaying matter, and protozoa ingesting other organisms as food. They reproduce primarily asexually through cell division. Some protists have medical and economic uses including treatment of various health conditions, cell signaling research, and production of food additives and bioplastics.
• Most of the organisms are unicellular, some are colonial and some are multicellular like algae. • Most of them live in water, some in moist soil or even the body of human and plants. • They have mitochondria for cellular respiration and some have chloroplasts for photosynthesis. HABITAT: • There are over 100,000 described living species of protists. • Nearly all protists exist in some type of aquatic environment, including freshwater and marine environments, damp soil, and even snow. • Paramecia are a common example of aquatic protists. NUTRITION: • There are many plant-like protists, such as algae, that get their energy from sunlight through photosynthesis. • Some of the fungus-like protists, such as the slime molds, decompose decaying matter. • The animal-like protists (protozoa) must "eat" or ingest food. ECOLOGY OF PHOTOSYNTHETIC PROTISTS DECOMPOSING DECAYING MATTER MODE OF REPRODUCTION: Asexual reproduction is the most common among protists. MEDICAL/ECONOMIC USES: • Used in treatment of high blood pressure, digestion problems, ulcers, and arthritis. • Slime molds (including D. discoideum, a soil-living protist) are used to analyze the chemical signals in cells. • Used to make puddings and ice cream solid. Chemicals from other kinds of algae are used to produce many kinds of plastics.