LAB TOPIC 13

PROTIST

Biology II Lab
Rocio R. Guevara Carrillo

Summary
The kingdom Protists belongs in the Domain Eukarya. Along with plants, fungi and
animals they are classified as eukaryotes because of the characteristics of their cell: it contains a
nucleus and other membrane-enclosed organelles, which make the structure and organization of
the cell more complex. The majority of the domain Eukarya is formed by protists and most
protists are unicellular and live in the water or moist soil, however some protists are more closely
related to animals, plants and fungi than to some other protists species. There are about 30,000
known species of protists. There is such diversity in this kingdom that when it comes to nutrition,
autotrophic (algae photosynthesis), heterotrophic (protozoa phagocytosis) and even
mixotrophic species capable of photosynthesis and phagocytosis can be found. Since the
majority of protists can transport themselves in very different ways, they were commonly
classified according to their movement patterns as sarcodines (moving with false feet called
pseudopodia), flagellates (moving with whip-like structures known as flagella), ciliates (moving
with short hairs known as cilia) and sporozoans, which did not move. They can also reproduce
asexually, sexually, or even both.
The process of endosymbiosis, a relationship between two species in which one organism
engulf another organism who will resume living inside the host, it is understood to be the origin
of much of protistan diversity.
The four supergroups
1. Excavata: protists with similar structure of their
mitochondria and unique flagella. We can find three
main groups: Diplomads, Parabasalids, Euglenozoans.

The first two groups lack plastids and have modified mitochondria. They have a reduced one,
which cannot function with electron transport chain, so they need to get the energy required from
biochemical pathways. Many of them are parasites, like for example, Giardia intestinalis
(diplomads) or T. Vaginalis (parabasalids).
Euglenozonans are composed by a diverse group of species, which main morphological feature is
the presence of a rod with either a spiral or a crystalline structure inside each of their flagella.
Two groups were study in this lab, Kinetoplastids and Euglenids. Inside the branch of the
Kinetoplastids, with large mitochondria and flagellated, the Trypanosoma can be found. This
specie is responsible for the sleeping sickness in humans transmitted by the African tsetse fly. An
example of an euglenid in the clade of Euglenozoa is Euglena. They have the ability to change
from autotrophic when there is light available to heterotrophic, but their distinguishing
characteristic is the presence of a pellicle formed by proteins (to retain shape).
2. SAR clade: similar DNA sequences.
This supergroup is one of the most
controversial divisions in the kingdom of protists.
DNA sequence data suggest that this group
originated more than a billion years ago by
endosymbiosis (red alga). The first clade in this supergroup is called Stramenopila, which
includes diatoms, golden algae, brown algae and water molds, all of them grouped base on the
structure of their flagella. Diatoms are really important photosynthesizers (found in plankton).
They have a unique glass-like cell wall made of silicon dioxide. Golden algae result from their
yellow and brown carotenoids and they are usually biflagellated. The brown algae are the largest
and more complex algae. Their color is because the brown pigment fucoxanthin. They look like

plants. Finally, as an example of water mold, saprolegnia, which consists of fungus-like hyphae
organized into mycelia.
The second clade in this supergroup is called Alveolates. They are characterize by the
presence of membrane-bound saclike structures (alveoli).
3. Unikonda
4. Archaeplastida