Classified Kingdoms/Protista

The word, protista, means "the very first" as they are the first eukaryotes (eukaryotes that are not members of the plant, animal, or fungi kingdoms). Protista can be multicellular or unicellular.

Classifying

Protista are hard to classify since they exhibit some characteristics of other kingdoms but not all of the characteristics. One way to classify:

• Animal-like protists: heterotrophs
• Plant-like protists: autotrophs
• Fungi-like protists: decomposers (heterotrophs)

Types

Protozoa (Animal-like)

Protozoa are classified by their movement.

Type of Protozoa	Movement	Things to Note
Zooflagellates	Have flagella	Have no chlorophyll or other photosynthetic chemicals
Sarcodines	Cytoplasmic streaming through pseudopods	Amoeba
Ciliates	Have cilia (small hairs that accommodate movement)	Paramecium
Sporozoans	Sessile	Many are disease-causing, such as malaria.

Unicellular Algae (Plant-like Protista)

Type of Algae	Features	Other Things to Note
Euglenophytes	Have flagella for movement; eyespot to help find the sun	Euglena
Chrysophytes	"Golden plants"; gold-toned chloroplasts
Diatoms	Thin, delicate cell walls of silicon	Glass-like appearance
Dinoflagellates	Half photosynthetic, half heterotrophic	Many give off light

Red, Brown and Green Algae (Plant-like Protista)

Type of Algae	Type of Chlorophyll	Other things to Note
Red Algae	Chlorophyll a (absorbs blue light, reflects red)	Can live in deep, ocean waters.
Brown Algae	Chlorophyll a and c	Grows in shallow waters, EX: Giant Kelp.
Green Algae	Chlorophyll a and b	Most like actual land plants; can be unicellular (some freshwater algae) or multicellular

Fungus-like Protista

Fungus-like Protista contain centrioles while true fungi don't. True fungi also have chitin, or fungi cell walls, while the fungus-like Protista don't. Although the differences, both are them are decomposers.

Slime molds

Slime mold in Scotland

Slime molds are fungus-like Protista that help recycle organic matter. These molds look like ameobas and form mold-like clumps.

Water molds

Water molds are fungus-like Protista that thrives on dead or decaying matter in water---an example of this is the white fuzz that is present on dead fish.

Reproduction

Asexual Reproduction	Sexual Reproduction
Mitosis	Meiosis
Binary Fission- when an organism will copy its DNA and then divide to produce two identical daughters.	Conjugation - when 2 organisms line up side by side to exchange genetic material through a conjugation tube.
	Alternation of Generations - alternate between haploid and diploid statuses.

Ecological/Human Impact

Ecological Impact

• Help recycle organic matter (decomposers)
• Indication of water quality: too much algea means the water is polluted.
• Agents of Disease
• Plant-like products serve to be producers in many food chains.

Human Impact

• Food Source (ice cream)
• Medicine
• Science

Threats

• Other Protista's eat each other, reducing the population of Protista.
• Different types of medicines are made by doctors or scientists to kill Protista's in the Human Body.

Habitat

Most protists are aquatic little creatures, and they usually live in places and locations where they are more water, some examples are: Oceans, Lakes, Swamps, Short Streams, Gardens, Seas, Ponds and more.

Picture or Physical Description (include color)

• Mostly purple

Food

Usually, if caught in an animal's body, the Protista would eat the animal's digestive system and body parts, thus, leading to death for the poor animal. Also, if not in animal's body, it would eat each Protista.

Specialized Body Parts

• Membrane
• Nucleus

Movement

• Cilia - Cilia are microscopic Hairs which are used for launching.
• Flagella - Flagella are propellers used for jumping to move far.
• Pseudopodia - Pseudopodia is the projection they use, they use this tool to move around.