Biology Chapter: Protists and Fungi

A diverse kingdom of eukaryotes, featuring varied shapes and structures.

Organisms whose cells have a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles.

Eukaryotic kingdom including diverse single-celled organisms.

A type of protist, often appearing as oddly shaped buttons.

Eukaryotic kingdom containing organisms like yeasts and molds.

Protists are classified based on their similarities, such as how they obtain food, how they move, and how they reproduce, rather than a set of defining characteristics like other kingdoms.

Protists feed in various ways, including absorbing nutrients from their surroundings, consuming food, or photosynthesizing to create energy.

Protists move using various mechanisms, such as cilia, flagella, amoeboid movement, or gliding.

Protists reproduce using diverse methods, including asexual reproduction, binary fission, or sexual reproduction with various stages.

Fungi are multicellular organisms with a filamentous network of hyphae, collectively called mycelium. Hyphae absorb nutrients from the surrounding environment.

Protists, whether single-celled or multicellular, possess typical eukaryotic cell features, including a cell membrane, a nucleus surrounded by a nuclear membrane, and organelles like mitochondria.

Protists have mitochondria, which are organelles responsible for energy production within cells.

Some protists contain chloroplasts, which are organelles responsible for photosynthesis, allowing them to produce their own food.

Protists exhibit a wide range of shapes, sizes, and lifestyles, reflecting their great diversity.

No, some protists, like seaweed, are multicellular, exhibiting complex structures and life cycles.

Despite being single-celled, protists are complex because they need to perform all life functions independently, unlike specialized cells in multicellular organisms.

These protists are heterotrophic, meaning they get their food by consuming other organisms. They are also called protozoans.

These protists obtain nutrients from decaying organic matter, like fungi do. They are also heterotrophic.

These protists produce their own food through photosynthesis, like plants. They're commonly called algae.

Protists are so diverse, biologists need to classify them into groups based on how they obtain nutrition, how they move, and how they reproduce.

A diverse group of heterotrophic protists that move using various mechanisms, like pseudopods, cilia, or flagella.

Protozoans that can change their body shape and use pseudopods for movement.

Temporary extensions of a cell's cytoplasm used for movement and feeding in some protists.

Amoebas use pseudopods, temporary extensions of their cytoplasm, to move across surfaces.

Amoebas move by extending temporary projections called pseudopods, which adhere to surfaces using a slimy coating. They basically crawl along surfaces.

Amoebas engulf their prey using their pseudopods, forming a food vacuole where digestion occurs.

Amoebas have contractile vacuoles that regulate water balance within the cell. They collect excess water and release it to prevent the cell from bursting.

Amoebas reproduce asexually, typically using mitosis. They reach their maximum size in about three days before reproducing.

Zooflagellates move using flagella, long, thin, whip-like structures. They can have one or more flagella.

A single-celled eukaryotic organism that typically lives in water and obtains food through phagocytosis.

A deadly disease caused by the parasite Trypanosoma, transmitted through the bite of a tsetse fly.

Trichonympha are protozoans that live in a mutualistic relationship with termites, helping them digest cellulose in wood.

Cilia are hair-like structures that help ciliates move rhythmically.

The macronucleus controls the Paramecium's metabolism and is essential for its survival.

Ciliates move rapidly using hair-like structures called cilia that beat rhythmically.

The large macronucleus controls the ciliate's metabolism and everyday functions.

The smaller micronucleus is responsible for reproduction and genetic information.

Paramecia use cilia to sweep food into an oral groove, forming a food vacuole for digestion.

Ciliates like paramecia exchange genetic material during conjugation, blending DNA from two individuals.

A parasitic protist that causes malaria, transmitted through mosquito bites.

Symptoms include fever, chills, and shaking, potentially leading to death.

A reproductive cycle involving spores (sexual) and asexual reproduction, seen in Plasmodium.

A sporozoan protist that lives in the intestines of mammals, causing toxoplasmosis.

A disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii, potentially leading to severe birth defects.

Mosquitoes are primary vectors for transmitting malaria to humans.

A process of sexual reproduction in Paramecium, involving the exchange of genetic material.

If an amoeba or paramecium explodes under a microscope, it likely means the cell membrane was not functioning properly.

A reproductive cell with a hard, protective coating that can survive for a while, even in unfavorable conditions.

Sporozoans typically reproduce asexually by forming spores. The nucleus divides multiple times, and each nucleus gets surrounded by cytoplasm, forming spores that are released when the cell disintegrates.

Plasmodium, a sporozoan that causes malaria, forms spores in the gut of a female mosquito.

When the mosquito bites a human, Plasmodium spores enter the bloodstream and travel to the liver, where they reproduce asexually.

Some Plasmodium offspring stay in the liver, causing future bouts of malaria, while others venture back into the bloodstream.

In the bloodstream, Plasmodium invades red blood cells and keeps reproducing asexually, eventually bursting the cells.

If an uninfected mosquito bites an infected human, it ingests Plasmodium with the blood, spreading the infection further.