S3512ED/BLG 3512

DIVERSITY of LIFE

UNIT 3: PROTISTS

Semester 2, 2024
1 µm
 Overview: Living Small

Even a low-power microscope can reveal a

great variety of organisms in a drop of pond
water
Protist = mostly unicellular
eukaryotes
Advances in eukaryotic systematics have
caused the classification of protists to
change significantly
Protists constitute a polyphyletic group,
and Protista is no longer valid as a kingdom
 Protists/ Protozoans
Protists are eukaryotes and thus have
organelles and are more complex than
prokaryotes
Most protists are unicellular, but there are
some colonial and multicellular species
Protists exhibit more structural and
functional diversity than any other group of
eukaryotes
Single-celled protists can be very complex,
as all biological functions are carried out by
organelles in each individual cell
 Protists

NUTRITION: Most diverse of all

eukaryotes, include:
Photoautotrophs, which contain chloroplasts
Heterotrophs, which absorb organic
molecules or ingest larger food particles
 Mixotrophs, which combine
photosynthesis and heterotrophic nutrition
REPRODUCTION:
Asexually or sexually (processes of
meiosis and fertilization)
 Endosymbiosis in
Eukaryotic Evolution
There is now considerable evidence that much
protist diversity has its origins in endosymbiosis
 Primary endosymbiosis: eukaryotic cell engulfs
another living prokaryotic cell. E.g eukaryotic cell
engulfs a photosynthetic algal cell and becomes an
autotrophic organism
 Secondary endosymbiosis: an eukaryotic cell
engulfs another eukaryote cell that has undergone
primary endosymbiosis
Endosymbiosis evolution of
protists
 Five Supergroups of Eukaryotes

It is no longer thought that amitochondriates

(lacking mitochondria) are the oldest lineage
of eukaryotes
Our understanding of the relationships
among protist groups continues to change
rapidly
One hypothesis divides all eukaryotes
(including protists) into five supergroups
 Clade EXCAVATA

 Include protists with modified

mitochondria and protists with unique
flagella
Most are Asymetrical and single-celled
(only slime molds, limited multicellularity)
Some members have a feeding groove
“excavated” from one side.
 Diplomonads and Parabasalids
These 2 groups live in anaerobic
environments, lack plastids, and have
modified mitochondria
Diplomonads
Have modified mitochondria called
mitosomes
Derive energy anaerobically, for example, by
glycolysis
Have two equal-sized nuclei and multiple
flagella
Are often parasites, for example, Giardia
intestinalis
 Parabasalids
Have reduced mitochondria called
hydrogenosomes that generate some energy
anaerobically, releasing hydrogen gas a by-product
Include Trichomonas vaginalis a parasite, causes
common sexually transmitted infection
Trichomoniasis.
 Euglenozoans
Euglenozoa is a diverse group that includes
predatory heterotrophs, photosynthetic
autotrophs, and pathogenic parasites
The main feature distinguishing them as a
clade is a spiral or crystalline rod of
unknown function inside their flagella

This clade includes the ORDERS:

 Kinetoplastids
Euglenids
 Kinetoplastids
Kinetoplastids have a single mitochondrion
with an organized mass of DNA called a
kinetoplast
Widespread & flagellated, parasitzes all animal
groups as well as plants and insects
Free-living kinetoplastids feed on bacteria in
aquatic, marine and terrestial environments.
This group includes Trypanosoma, which causes
sleeping sickness in humans
Another pathogenic trypanosome causes Chagas’
disease
 Euglenids
Euglenids have one or two flagella that
emerge from a pocket at one end of the cell
Many species can be both autotrophic and
heterotrophic = Mixotrophs
 Chromalveolates
Clade Chromalveolata is monophyletic and
originated by a secondary endosymbiosis event
The proposed endosymbiont is a red alga
Contain some most important oceanic
organisms
Range from single cell to complex multicellular
taxa
This clade is controversial and includes the
Alveolates and the Stramenopiles
 Alveolates
Members of the clade Alveolata have
membrane-bounded sacs (alveoli) just under
the plasma membrane.

The function of the alveoli is unknown.

Alveolata includes:
 DINOFLAGELLATES (group of flagellates),
APICOMPLEXANS (group of parasites), and
CILIATES (protists that move by cilia)
 Dinoflagellates
Dinoflagellates are a diverse group of aquatic
mixotrophs and heterotrophs
They are abundant components of both marine
and freshwater phytoplankton
Each has a characteristic shape that in many
species is reinforced by internal plates of
cellulose
Two flagella make them spin as they move
through the water
Dinoflagellate blooms are the cause of toxic “red
tides”
 Apicomplexans

Parasites of animals, and some cause serious

human diseases e.g Malaria
Spread as tiny infectious cells called sporozoites
One end, the apex, contains a complex of
organelles specialized for penetrating a host
They have a nonphotosynthetic plastid,
called apicoplast
Most have sexual and asexual stages that require
two or more different host species for
completion
 Apicomplexans
The apicomplexan
Plasmodium is the parasite
that causes malaria
Plasmodium requires both
mosquitoes and humans
to complete its life cycle
Approximately 2 million
people die each year from
malaria
Efforts are ongoing to
develop vaccines that target
this pathogen
 Ciliates
 Ciliates, a large varied group of protists, named for their
use of cilia to move and feed
 They have large macronuclei and small micronuclei
 During conjugation (sexual reproduction) two
individuals exchange haploid micronuclei
 Ciliates generally reproduce asexually by binary fission
 Stramenopiles
Marine algae that include some of the important
photosynthetic organisms and several groups of
heterotrophs
Most have a “hairy” flagellum paired with a
“smooth” flagellum (nonhairy)
Include: diatoms, golden algae, brown algae and
oomycetes
 Diatoms
Diatoms are unicellular algae with a unique
two-part, glass-like wall of hydrated silica
Diatoms usually reproduce asexually, and
occasionally sexually
Diatoms are a major component of
phytoplankton and are highly diverse
Fossilized diatom walls compose much of the
sediments known as diatomaceous earth
 Golden Algae
Golden algae are named for their color, which
results from their yellow and brown
carotenoids
The cells of golden algae are typically
biflagellated, with both flagella near one end
Most are unicellular, but some are colonial
All golden algae are photosynthetic, and some
are also heterotrphic= mixotrophs
Form cysts if conditions become unfavorable
 Brown Algae
Brown algae are the largest and have most
complex multicellular anatomy of all algae
Large amounts of brown pigment (eg.
fuxoxanthin) makes it brown
Resemble plants and form underwater
“forests”
All are multicellular, and most are marine
Brown algae include many species commonly
called “seaweeds”
 Alternation of Generations

A variety of life cycles have evolved among

the multicellular algae
The most complex life cycles include an
alternation of generations, the
alternation of multicellular haploid and
diploid forms
Heteromorphic generations are
structurally different, while isomorphic
generations look similar
 Oomycetes
Oomycetes include water molds, white rusts,
and downy mildews
They were once considered fungi based on
morphological studies
Most oomycetes are decomposers or parasites of
algae and fish
They have filaments (hyphae) that facilitate
nutrient uptake
Their ecological impact can be great, as in
Phytophthora infestans causing potato late
blight
 Rhizarians
DNA evidence supports
Rhizaria as a
monophyletic clade
Rhizaria organisms
(referred to as amoebas)
have threadlike
pseudopodia
Amoebas move and feed
by pseudopodia
Rhizarians include forams
and radiolarians
 Forams
Foraminiferans, or forams, are named for their
porous shells, called tests
Pseudopodia extend through the pores in the test
Pseudopodia are used for swimming and feeding
Foram tests form an extensive fossil record and are
part of marine sediments
 Radiolarians
Marine protists called radiolarians have
symmetrical internal skeletons made of silica
The pseudopodia of radiolarians radiate from
the central body
Use their pseudopodia to engulf microorganisms
through phagocytosis
 Archeaplastida
Over a billion years ago, a heterotrophic protist
acquired a cyanobacterial endosymbiont
The photosynthetic descendants of this ancient
protist evolved into red algae and green algae
Land plants are descended from the green algae
Archaeplastida is a supergroup used by some
scientists and includes red algae, green algae,
and land plants
 Red Algae (Rhodophytes)
 Red algae are reddish in color due to an accessory
pigment call phycoerythrin, which masks the green
of chlorophyll
 The color varies from greenish-red in shallow water
to dark red or almost black in deep water
 Red algae are usually multicellular; the largest are
seaweeds
 Red algae are the most abundant large algae in
coastal waters of the tropics
Fig. 28-19
Bonnemaisonia
hamifera

20 cm

8 mm
Dulse (Palmaria palmata)

Nori. The red alga Porphyra is the

source of a traditional Japanese food. The seaweed is
grown on nets in
shallow coastal
waters.

The harvested
seaweed is spread
on bamboo screens
to dry.

Paper-thin, glossy sheets of nori

make a mineral-rich wrap for rice,
seafood, and vegetables in sushi.
 Green Algae
Named for their grass-green chloroplasts
Plants are descended from green algae
The two main groups are chlorophytes and
charophytes
Most chlorophytes live in fresh water, but also many
marine and some terrestrial species
Example of chlorophytes: unicellular
Chlamydomonas
Other chlorophytes live in damp soil, as symbionts
in lichens, or in snow
Fig. 28-20

Carotenoid
pigments in snow-
dwelling
chlorophytes such
as Chlamydomonas
nivalis, turn snow
red
 Chlorophytes include unicellular, colonial, and
multicellular forms

Chlamydomonas

Volvox
Most chlorophytes have complex life
cycles with both sexual and asexual
reproductive stages
 Unikonts
The supergroup Unikonta includes animals,
fungi, and some protists that are closely related to
fungi and animals
This group includes two clades: the
amoebozoans and the opisthokonts (animals,
fungi, and related protists)
The root of the eukaryotic tree remains
controversial
It is unclear whether unikonts separated from
other eukaryotes relatively early or late
 Amoebozoans
• Amoebozoans are amoeba that have lobe-
or tube-shaped, rather than threadlike,
pseudopodia
• They include slime molds, gymnamoebas, and
entamoebas
 Slime Molds
• Slime molds, or mycetozoans, were once
thought to be fungi
• Molecular systematics places slime
molds in the clade Amoebozoa
• Diverged into: plasmodial slime molds
and cellular slime molds (based unique
life cycles)
 Plasmodial Slime Molds
• Many species of plasmodial slime molds are
brightly pigmented, usually yellow or orange
• At one point in the life cycle, plasmodial slime
molds form a mass called a plasmodium (not to
be confused with malarial genus Plasmodium)
• The plasmodium is not multicellular but is a
single mass of cytoplasm, undivided by
membranes and contains many diploid nuclei
• It extends pseudopodia through decomposing
material, engulfing food by phagocytosis
 Cellular Slime Molds

Form multicellular aggregates in which

cells are separated by their membranes
Cells feed individually, but can aggregate
to function as unit when food is depleted
Dictyostelium discoideum is an
experimental model for studying the
evolution of multicellularity
 Gymnamoebas

Gymnamoebas are common unicellular

amoebozoans present in soil as well as
freshwater and marine environments
Most gymnamoebas are heterotrophic and
actively seek and consume bacteria and
other protists
Some feed on dead organic matter
 Entamoebas

Entamoebas are parasites of vertebrates

and some invertebrates
Entamoeba histolytica causes ameobic
dysentery in humans
Dysentery: infection of intestines resulting
in severe diarrhoea
Spread via contaminated drinking water,
food or eating utensils
 Opisthokonts

Opisthokonts
include animals,
fungi, and several
groups of protists
(closely related to
animals and
fungi than they
are to other
protists)
 Protists play key roles in
ecological relationships
Protists are found in diverse aquatic
environments

Two key roles:

• Symbiotic protists
• Photosynthetic protists
 Symbiotic Protists
Many protists form symbiotic relationships
with other species
Some protist symbionts benefit their hosts
Dinoflagellates nourish coral polyps that
build reefs
Hypermastigotes digest cellulose in the gut
of termites
Some protists are parasitic

Plasmodium causes malaria

Pfesteria shumwayae is a dinoflagellate
that causes fish kills
Entamoeba histolytica causes amebic
dysentry
Phytophthora ramorum causes sudden
oak death
 Photosynthetic Protists
Many protists are important producers
that obtain energy from the sun
In aquatic environments they are main
producers along with prokaryotes
One third of world’s photosynthesis is
performed by diatoms, dinoflagellates,
multicellular algae etc.
The availability of nutrients can affect the
concentration of protists
Fig. 28-28

Other
consumers

Herbivorous
plankton Carnivorous
plankton

Bacteria
absorbed by

Soluble
organic matter
Protistan
producers secrete
Domain Eukarya: Protists

➢ Mostly unicellular eukaryotes

➢ Protista is no longer a valid kingdom
• Polyphyletic clade
• Some protists are more closely related to plants,
fungi or animals
➢ Unicellular (Chlamydomonas), colonial
(Volvox) and multicellular species (green
algae)
➢ Can reproduce asexually and sexually
➢Plastids and mitochondria evolved by
endosymbiosis
➢Primary vs secondary endosymbiosis
• Red and green algae underwent secondary
endosymbiosis
 Different life cycles

➢ Apicomplexan Plasmodium: malaria

causing parasite
• Requires 2 hosts to complete life cycle
➢ Ciliate Paramecium
• Conjugation (sexual reproduction)
• Cytokinesis produces 4 daughter cells
➢ Alternation of generations
• Alternation of multicellular haploid and diploid
forms
• Heteromorphic generations: structurally
different (Brown algae)
• Isomorphic generations: look similar (Ulva)
 Importance of Protists

➢Form mutualistic and parasitic

relationships
➢E.g malaria causing Apicomplexan
Plasmodium
➢Important producers in aquatic
environments
 You should now be able to:

1. Explain why the kingdom Protista is no longer

considered a legitimate taxon
2. Explain the process of endosymbiosis and state
what living organisms are likely relatives of
mitochondria and plastids
3. Distinguish between endosymbiosis and
secondary endosymbiosis
4. Name the five supergroups, list their key
characteristics, and describe some
representative taxa