Protista Kingdom
Protists are eukaryotic creatures and they all have real nuclei that are separated from the cytoplasm by a membrane. There are protist types that are autotrophic and heterotrophic. They usually live in waters and moist areas. Many types of protists can cause disease in humans and animals. Three common structures in all protists; cytoplasm, cytoplasm membrane and nucleus.
The creatures in this kingdom can be examined in three groups: protozoa, algae and mold.
1. Protozoa:
They are single-celled organisms and can be examined in four sections.
a) Flagellated protozoans
They live in fresh waters. Movement organelles are flagella. Some types have chloroplasts, like euglena (autotroph). Some types are heterotrophic, such as Trypanosoma. Therefore, flagellates are considered as a transition form between plants and animals. Their reproduction is in the form of splitting along the long axis, that is, they reproduce asexually.
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| Euglena |
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| Trypanosoma |
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b) Amoeboid Protozoans
They live in fresh waters. They move with their false feet (pseudopod) and catch their nutrients. Amoeba is an example of this group. They are heterotrophic organisms and reproduce by dividing. There are no specific cell shapes.
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| Amoeba |
c) Sporozoans
They act passively because they do not have movement organelles. They got this name because they reproduce with the help of structures called sports. The most known variety is Plazmodium malaria, which causes malaria. The creatures of this group live as intracellular parasites and take their nutrients from the creature they live on. There are reproductive forms in which sexual and asexual reproduction follow each other (Metagenesis).
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| Plazmodium malaria |
d) Ciliated Protozoans
The creatures in this group can live in fresh and salt water and are hetorotrophs. They have the most advanced organization among single cell protists. They have two cores, one big and one small. They move and feed by means of silts covering their body. They reproduce sexually and asexually. The most important example is Paramecium.
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| Paramecium |
2) Slime Molds
They have no specific cell shapes and are heterotrophs. They are examined differently from fungi kingdom because they are multi-core and act like amoeba. They live in humid areas, they do not have cell walls, they reproduce sexually and asexually. Since they are decomposing organisms, they play a role in the cycle of matter. They take their nutrients with false feet like amoebae.
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| Slime Molds |
3) Algae
Algae are eukaryotic creatures generally living in fresh or salt water. They have cell walls that look like plant cells and they do photosynthesis, that is, photoautotrophs. Most of the free oxygen produced in the world is produced by algae. They can be single-celled and multi-celled. There are no real roots, stems and leaves. It is the food and oxygen source of heterotrophic organisms living in the water. Green algae, brown algae and red algae are some examples of this group.
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| Green Algae |
The Original Author: Mrs. Şerife (Erden) SARICA
