Kingdom Protista

A eukaryotic organism
usually unicellular, that is not a fungus, plant, or animal
(miscellaneous group)

➞ Eukaryotic
➞ Most are unicellular
(except algae)
➞ Grouped based on nutrition
(heterotrophs or autotrophs)
➞ Protists use cilia, pseudopods,
or flagella to move
➞ Most protists are single-celled.
➞ Some are multicellular but
do not form trust tissues

Most reproduce asexually
sometimes sexually

➞ Heterotrophs: consume
other prokaryotes

➞ Some are parasitic

Amoeba

Diseases

Entamoeba
hystolitica causes
amoebic dynastry

Habitat

Decaying vegetation
in fresh or salt water
or in animals

Movement

Has pseudopods

Paramecium

Diseases

Balantidium coli: causes
diarrhea in humans, only
ciliate parasite in humans

Habitat

Aquatic environments

Movement

Has cilates

Trichonympha

Habitat

the hindgut of lower
termites and wood
roaches

Movement

Has flagellates

Plasmodium

Habitat

Sporozoans primarily
live in the blood cells
or other organs like
the muscles or kidneys

Diseases

Causes life
threatening malaria

➞ Autotrophs: create their own
food source from photosynthesis

➞ Able to photosynthesize using
chloroplasts/chlorophyll

Dinoflagellates

➞ Some species
cause red tides
(can be harmful
to humans)

➞ Bioluminescence

Diatoms

➞ Diverse and
abundant
phytoplankton

➞ Food source for
marine animals

➞ Rigid cell walls with
outer layer of silica

Euglenoids

➞ Autotrophs in sunlight

➞ Heterotrophs in the dark

➞ Has an eyespot to detect
light

➞ Heterotrophic: absorbs
nutrients from living and
dead organisms and waste

➞ Produces spores like fungi

Plasmodial Slime Mould

➞ Slug like, creep over
decaying material

➞ Has streaming blobs
that contain many
nuclei

Cellular Slime Mould

➞ Individual amoeboid
cells, 1 nucleus each

➞ Ingests bacteria or
yeast

➞ Pseudoplasmodium
forms when food is
scarce

Water Mould

➞ Filamentous

➞ Some parasitic
(extend threads into host
tissues and absorb nutrients)