Kingdom Protista

FEATURES OF KINGDOM PROTISTA

• Protists are unicellular organisms, which cannot be typically observed by the naked eye. They are
classified under the kingdom of Protista as eukaryotes, which are not either fungi, plants or animals.
• Some protists contain a cell wall but some do not. Protists can be either autotrophic, heterotrophic,
parasitic or saprotrophic.
• euglenoids, protozoans, and some algae, consist of a single cell, whereas other algae are multicellular
or occur as colonies or filaments.
• Algae are photosynthetic, the slime molds and protozoans ingesting their food, the euglenoids either
carrying on photosynthesis or ingesting their food, and the oomycetes and chytrids absorbing their food
in solution.
• Reproduction is generally by cell division and sexual processes.
EVOLUTION: Green Plant Phylogeny
Phylum Chlorophyta— the Green Algae
• occur in a rich variety of forms and in very diverse and
widespread habitats
• Has chloroplasts
• have a nucleus containing their DNA
• mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum present
• Most protists are single-celled; some are multicellular
1. Chlamydomonas
• found in freshwater pools
• unicellular, with a slightly oval cell surrounded by a complex, multilayered
wall that is partially composed of glycoproteins.
• cells are haploid, carrying only one copy of each chromosome. However,
these cells can undergo mitosis to produce genetically identical daughter
cells (asexual reproduction).
2. Ulothrix

• can be found on dead twigs, rocks, and other debris

in cold freshwater ponds, lakes, and streams (and a few marine
habitats)
• consists of a single row of cylindrical cells attached end to
end and forming a thread, or filament.
• each cell contains a single chloroplast with one or more
pyrenoids
• Zoospores swim for a few hours to several days, they settle
• on submerged objects, the flagella are shed, and the cells
divide. One of the first two daughter cells becomes a holdfast,
while the other continues to divide, becoming a new algal body.
3. Spirogyra
- known as watersilk, has watery sheaths, making feel slimy.
- consisting of unbranched filaments of cylindrical cells, frequently float in masses at the surface of
quiet waters.
- Each cell contains one or more long, frilly, ribbon-shaped chloroplasts that look as though they had
been spirally wrapped around an invisible pole (vacuole) occupying most of the cell’s interior.
- Does not produce zoospores
- Asexual reproduction occurs through the breakup, or fragmentation, of existing filaments.
Fragmentation often occurs as a result of a storm or other disturbance.
4. Oedogonium “swollen reproductive cell”

- a filamentous green alga, is often found attached to aquatic plants and algae; strictly epiphytic
- the basal cells of the unbranched filaments form holdfasts, and the terminal cell of each filament is
rounded. The remaining cells are cylindrical and attached end to end.
- reproduce asexually by either zoospore production or fragmentation
Other Green Algae

• Chlorella is a widespread green alga that is

Chlorella
very easy to culture
• Hydrodictyon (water nets)– form netlike,
tubular colonies with polygonal meshes
• Acetabularia - a marine alga consisting of a
single, huge cell shaped like a delicate
mushroom
• Volvox - representative of a line of green
algae that forms colonies similar to those of Hydrodictyon
Chlamydomonas Acetabularia
• Ulva - a multicellular seaweed with
flattened, crinkly-edged green blades that
may be 1 meter) or more long

Ulva
Phylum Chromophyta— the Yellow-Green Algae, Golden-Brown Algae, Diatoms,
and Brown Algae

Yellow-Green Algae (Xanthophyceae)

- mostly freshwater organisms, with a few marine and
terrestrial representatives.

Vaucheria

Stipitococcus Dinobryon
Golden-Brown Algae (Chrysophyceae)
- Most are freshwater plankton
- The motile cells have two flagella of unequal length
inserted at right angles to each other, with a
photoreceptor (light-sensitive area) on the short
flagellum.
Diatoms (Bacillariophyceae)

-Diatoms are among the best-known and economically most

important members of the phylum
- mostly unicellular algae occur in both fresh and salt water,
but are particularly abundant in colder marine habitats
- Thus, the colder the water, the more diatoms present (most
number found in Antartica and Arctic.
- also dominate the algal flora on damp cliffs, the bark of
trees, bare soil, or the sides of buildings; some can
withstand extreme drought
- look like tiny, ornate, glass boxes with lids.
 Brown Algae (Phaeophyceae)

-Many brown algae are relatively large, and none

are unicellular or colonial. Only a few of the
known genera occur in fresh water; the vast
majority grow in colder ocean waters, usually in
shallower areas (except giant kelps - Macrocystis
pyrifera)

Nereocystis
Macrocystis pyritera Sargassum
Phylum Rhodophyta— the Red Algae

-most species of red algae are seaweeds;

some in warmer and deeper waters
-some grow attached to rocks in intertidal
zones, others grow at depths
-A few are unicellular, but most are
filamentous. The filaments frequently are so
tightly packed that the plants appear to have
flattened blades or to form branching
segments. Some develop feathery structures Gigartina canaliculata

Chondrus crispus

Rhodoglossum affine
Phylum Euglenophyta— the Euglenoids

-usually found in barnyard pools and sewage treatment ponds

Euglena
Phacus- a euglenoid often
found in polluted pellicle
waters.
Phylum Dinophyta— the Dinoflagellates

-found in beach in a distinctly reddish tint on water as a result of red tide

Dinoflagellates
-unicellular organisms
-resemble armorplated spaceships, while others
may be smooth or have fine, lengthwise ribs
Phylum Cryptophyta— the Cryptomonads

- asymmetrical, somewhat flattened, unicellular, marine and

freshwater algae with two flagella, both flagella bearing
short hairs throughout their length.

Phylum Prymnesiophyta (Haptophyta)—the Haptophytes

Most haptophytes are unicellular, with two smooth flagella
of similar length inserted at the apex
Phylum Charophyta— the Stoneworts
- primarily aquatic organisms of shallow, freshwater lakes and
ponds; they often precipitate calcium salts on their surfaces.
- They consist of an axis with short, lateral branches in whorls,
making them loosely resemble small horsetail plants

Chara
 OTHER MEMBERS OF KINGDOM PROTISTA

Protozoans (Phylum Protozoa)

Characteristics
• Some biologists include Phylum Protozoa in the Kingdom Animalia
• possess eukaryotic cells
• mostly heterotrophic
• Protozoans ingest food by forming food vacuoles
• Mostly reproduce through asexual by a type of mitosis called binary fission
• Free-living protozoans live in damp soil,freshwater habitats, and marine habitats
• Parasitic protozoans live inside or on the moist tissues of a host organism
• Like bacteria, some protozoans are major pathogens
Phylum Myxomycota – Plasmodial
slime molds

• Slime molds may be slimy, but they are not

molds.
• Without chlorophyll and are incapable of
producing their own food
• Characteristic: Plasmodium (mass of
cytoplasm)
Phylum Dictyosteliomycota – cellular slime molds

• Characteristics:
• -produce a pseudoplasmodium that
crawls like a slug and can convert to
a stationary, sporangium-like mass of
spores.
Phylum Oomycota – water molds

• Aquatic organisms
• found on dead insects such as
houseflies
• Characteristic:
• -have coenocytic mycelia and include
organisms that cause diseases of fish
and other aquatic organisms.
• -Asexual reproduction involves
zoospores; gametes are produced in
oogonia and antheridia.