PROTISTS

Presented by: Group 3

PROTISTS
 Protists are a group of loosely connected, mostly unicellular eukaryotic
organisms that are not plants, animals or fungi. There is no single feature
such as evolutionary history or morphology common to all these organisms
and they are unofficially placed under a separate kingdom called Protista.
Therefore, protists are no longer a formal classification, and different
members show varying degrees of homology with species belonging to all
five eukaryotic kingdoms. However, it is still used as a term of convenience
to describe eukaryotic microscopic organisms.
 Initially this group included bacteria and fungi, but now it is comprised exclusively of
organisms having a fully defined nucleus, with complex cellular structure but lacking
tissue-level organization.

 Protists were first classified as a group of organisms by Ernst Haeckel in the 1860s, using
the term derived from the Greek word protistos meaning ‘the very first’. It was initially
used to indicate that these organisms were probably primitive forms of plants and
animals. This term appeared in the backdrop of the invention of the microscope and the
discovery of a wide variety of microorganisms.
CHARACTERISTIC OF PROTISTS

 All are Eukaryotes that cannot be classified as a plant, animal, or fungus

 They have nucleus and membrane Bound Organelles
 Some are autotrophic, some are heterotrophic
 Some are multicellular, most are unicellular
PROTISTS STRUCTURE

 Cell Structure, Metabolism, and Motility

 Protists are an Incredibly diverse set of eukaryotes Of various sizes, cell structures,
metabolisms, and methods of motility.
 Key Points
 Protist cells may contain a single nucleus or many nuclei; they range in size from
microscopic to thousands of meters in area.
 Protists may have animal-like cell membranes, plant-like cell walls, or may be covered by
a pellicle. Some protists are heterotrophs and ingest food by phagocytosis, while other
types of protists are photoautotrophs and store energy via photosynthesis.
 Most protists are motile and generate movement with cilia, flagella, or pseudopodia.
 Single protist cells range in size from less than a micrometer to thousands of square
meters (giant kelp). Animal-like cell membranes or plant-like cell walls envelope protist
cells. In other protists, glassy silica-based shells or pellicles of interlocking protein strips
encase the cells. The pellicle functions like a flexible coat of armor, preventing the
protist from external damage without compromising its range of motion.
HOW PROTISTS OBTAIN ENERGY

 - There are many plant-like protists, such as algae, that get their energy from sunlight
photosynthesis.

 - Some are the fungus-like through and animal-like protists. The fungus-like protists
get their energy and nutrition like a fungus does, by releasing a digestive enzyme into
the environment to break down large organic molecules into pieces small enought to
absorb. While the animal-like protists must "eat" or ingest food.
THREE WAYS PROTISTS OBTAIN ENERGY:

 - Some protists capture sunlight and convert it to usable energy.

 - Another group of protists gets its energy from eating other organisms.
 - A third group gets energy by absorbing materials and nutrients from its
environment.
REPRODUCTION
 Protists reproduce by a variety of mechanisms. Protists utilize a variety of asexual and
sexual reproduction techniques.
ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION
Asexual reproduction requires one parent and produces offspring that are
genetically identical to that parent. In addition to the convenience of self-reproduction,
asexual reproduction can occur more frequently and produce rapid population growth.
Because of this, asexual reproduction is the primary method protists use to reproduce.
 The following are types of asexual reproduction
that occur in protists:
 Binary fission: Binary fission occurs when a single protist divides its nucleus and
then divides itself into two separate organisms.
 Multiple fission: Multiple fission is similar to binary fission, except the nucleus
can divide and form many daughter nuclei. The organism will then divide into
separate organisms for each nuclei that has been created.
 Budding: Budding occurs when a new organism grows from the body of the
parent organism. The new organism may separate from the parent or remain
attached, forming colonies.
Sexual Reproduction
Sexual reproduction in protists requires two parent organisms. Both organisms
contribute genetic material to the offspring.
In case of sexual reproduction, the two organisms involved go through the process of
meiosis wherein a reproductive cell with half the set of DNA belonging parent, known as
gamete, is created. Further when the gametes of two parent organisms come in contact, a
zygote is formed. This zygote has a full set of DNA, courtesy half a set of DNA from either
parent.
While that was all about the reproduction process, there also exist several other facets of
their lives that we are not aware of. It may come as a surprise for many, but we do come
in direct contact with various protists which act as pathogens in our body. One of the best
example of the same is Plasmodium falciparum, the protozoan parasite which causes
malaria.
PROTIST DIVERSITY
 There is a huge diversity of protists. A large number of different species have only been
discovered in the past 10 years using new technology to identify genetic differences.
Some of the better known protists include algae, diatoms, slime molds, water molds and
many parasites such as giardia.
 Algae- are protists that perform photosynthesis. Algae are very similar to plants.
 *Green Algae
 *Red Algae
 Diatoms- are single-celled organisms. Diatoms are photosynthetic.
 Slime molds- are a type of protist that aggregates into colonies and ingest bacteria,
fungal spores, and possibly other protists.
 Water molds
 Sporozoans- are parasitic and have comple life cycles.
 WHAT IS HUMAN PATHOGENS
 Tiny microorganisms that causes many of the most common diseases and its infects or
invades the body and attacks its cell and tissues.
 A Pathogen or infectious agent is a biological agent that causes diseases or illness to its host.
 Pathogens can Infect unicellular organism from all of the biological kingdoms.

types of Pathogens
 BACTERIA
 RICKETTSIAE
 VIRUSES
 FUNGI
 PROTOZOA
 PARASITIC WORMS
BACTERIA

-Pathogenic bacteria are bacteria which are capable of causing disease when enters into

the body which can spread through water, air, soil and also through physical contact.
Mostly bacteria's are harmless and beneficial but some are pathogenic.
RICKETTSIAE

- The rickettsiae are a diverse collection of obligately intracellular Gram-negative bacteria

found in ticks, lice, fleas, mites, chiggers, and mammals. They include the
genera Rickettsiae, Ehrlichia, Orientia, and Coxiella. These zoonotic pathogens cause
infections that disseminate in the blood to many organs.
VIRUSES

-Viruses are the smallest common pathogen. They are so small in fact that many of them
actually infect bacteria. They are different from other pathogens because they cannot
reproduce on their own. Viruses take over the cells they infect and use that cell's own
processes to create more copies of the virus.
FUNGI

-Pathogenic fungi have an enormous impact on human health. Most people are aware of
some of the superficial infections caused by fungi. These include skin and nail infections
such as athlete's foot and ringworm, predominantly caused by dermatophytes
(Trichophyton, Microsporum and Epidermophyton species).
PROTOZOA

-Pathogenic protozoa comprise a large number of eukaryotic microorganisms which are

the causative agent of important parasitic diseases. Some affect human and are of high
medical relevance as malaria, toxoplasmosis, leishmaniasis, the Chagas disease, sleepiness
disease, amebiasis, giardiasis, and trichomoniasis.
PARASITIC WORMS

- Parasitic worm: A worm classified as a parasite. (A parasite is a disease-causing organism

that lives on or in a human or another animal and derives its nourishment from its host.)
PROTIST PARASITES OF
TERRESTRIAL PLANTS
 include agents that destroy food crops
 Examples are: Plasmopara viticola and Phytophthora infestans
PLASMOPARA VITICOLA
 parasitizes grape plants
 causing a disease called downy mildew
 is native to the north-eastern USA
 it spread to Europe and worldwide. Today, P. viticola occurs in nearly all grape-growing
regions worldwide.
DOWNY MILDEW

ZOOSPORE RELEASE

SPORANGIAL INFECTION OF THE

DISSEMINATION HOST PLANT

MYCELIUM
MASS PRODUCTION INFECTION ON THE
OF SPORANGIA LEAF
PHYTOPHTHORA INFESTANS
 an oomycete responsible for potato late blight
 causes potato stalks and stems to decay into black slime
 Early blight, caused by Alternaria solani, is also often called "potato blight". Late
blight was a major culprit in the 1840s European, the 1845 - 1852 Irish, and the 1846
Highland potato famines.
POTATO LATE BLIGHT

SPORANGIAL
DISSEMINATION

RELEASE OF
SPORULATION ZOOSPORES

MYCELIUM
INFECTION ON INFECTION OF
THE LEAF THE HOST PLANT
BENEFICIAL PROTIST
 Protists

 Protists play critically important ecological roles as producers particularly in the world’s oceans.
They are equally important on the other end of food webs as decomposers.
 PROTISTS AS FOOD SOURCES
 Protists are essential sources of nutrition for many other organisms. In some cases, as in plankton,
protists are consumed directly. Alternatively, photosynthetic protists serve as producers of
nutrition for other organisms by carbon fixation
WHERE ARE
DINOFLAGELLATES FOUND?
 Dinoflagellates are single-cell organisms that can be found in streams, rivers,
and freshwater ponds. 90% of all dinoflagellates are found living in the ocean. They are better
referred to as algae and there are nearly 2000 known living species.
DINOFLAGELLATE
POLYPS AND
DINOFLAGELLATES
PROTIST
 As primary producers, protists feed a large proportion of the world’s aquatic species. (On land,
terrestrial plants serve as primary producers.) Protists do not create food sources only for sea-
dwelling organisms. 
PROTISTS AND AQUATIC
ORGANISMS
AGENTS OF DECOMPOSITION
 Many fungus-like protists are saprobes, organisms that feed on dead organisms or the waste
matter produced by organisms and are specialized to absorb nutrients from nonliving organic
matter.
SAPROBES
OOMYCETES
ECONOMIC BENEFIT

BROWN AND BLUE

ALGAE
GROUP MEMBERS
 GONZALES, AURIE LEIGH
 HONRADO, IRISH REGINE
 LARIOS, ANGELICA BARBARA
 LAROSA, JULINA
 MACADAAN, PAZ DANIELLE
 MACARAEG, ANGELICA
 MAGYAWI, ROSSJHUN
 MARQUEZ, CYBELLE REYSA
 MATRADONA, ALLYZA