The Eukaryotic Microorganisms

Lecture 3 – Protists
 Protists
OUTLINE

• Protist characteristics

• How did the eukaryotic cell arise?

• What features account for Protist diversity? Key

Examples

• How do Protists reproduce?

• How do Protists affect the world around them?

 Protists
◆ Protists comprise all eukaryotes that are
neither plants, animals nor fungi

◆ Are mostly unicellular and microscopic but

some are multicellular and macroscopic (e.g.
some algae)

◆ Constitute a paraphyletic group: that share

different ancestoral lineage, not arise from one

◆ have a very complex cellular make up

 Occupy Diverse Habitats

• Moist habitats:
mainly aquatic -
freshwater & marine
environment, also
damp soils, forests

• Dead organisms or
their waste

• Some parasites or
symbionts of animals
or plants
Nutritional Classification of Protists

Protists are the most nutritionally diverse of all

eukaryotes, comprising of:
▪ Photoautotrophs, contain chloroplasts (plant-like)

▪ Heterotrophs - ingest food particles (animal-like)

- absorb organic molecules (fungi-like)

▪ Mixotrophs, combine photosynthesis &

heterotrophic nutrition

▪ Predators, parasites and mutualists

Most Protist are Motile
• Have cytoskeleton that allows for various means
of locomotion three of which are:
- Pseudopods: temporary protrusion of cytoplasm
for movement (amoeboid motion) & feeding
- Cilia: small hair-like, movement & feeding
- Flagella: long whip-like structure, movement
 Evolution of the eukaryotes

Ancestral prokaryote
How did eukaryotic cells arise?
Several events led to the evolution of the modern
eukaryotic cell from an ancestral prokaryote
 Evolution of the eukaryotic cell
At least 5 events were significant in the origin of
the eukaryotic cell from ancestral prokaryote

1. The origin of a flexible cell surface (cell wall loss)

2. The origin of a cytoskeleton (support, movement)
3. The origin of a nuclear envelope which enclosed the
genomic DNA by infolding of plasma membrane

4. The appearance of digestive vacuoles

5. The acquisition of mitochondria and chloroplasts via
endosymbiosis
Endosymbiosis in Eukaryotic Evolution
▪ Endosymbiosis: the process in which a unicellular
organism engulfs another cell, which becomes an
endosymbiont and then organelle in the cell
▪ Much of protist diversity is believed to have its
origins in endosymbiosis
▪ Mitochondria evolved by endosymbiosis of an
engulfed aerobic prokaryote with a larger prokaryote
▪ Plastids evolved by endosymbiosis of a
photosynthetic cyanobacterium engulfed by a
prokaryote
The Endosymbiotic Theory in Eukaryotic
Evolution

Secondary endosymbiosis

Primary endosymbiosis
 Diversity of Protists
Eukaryotes are divided
into 5 supergroups;
1. Excavata
2. Chromalveolata
3. Rhizaria
4. Unikonta
5. Archaeplastida common euk.
ancestor

Protists are the most diverse of

eukaryotes & exist in all the
groups

Difficult to classify as a single

kingdom, constitute a paraphyletic
group
 1. Excavates
(1) Excavates: an asymmetrical appearance with
a feeding groove that is “excavated” from one side

- Includes heterotroph predators, autotrophs

and parasites

• Diplomonads (lack mitochondria)

• Parabasalids (lack mitochondria)
• Euglenids (photosynthetic)
• Kinetoplastids (have single, large mitochondrion)
 (1) Excavates: Diplomonads and
parabasalids

Diplomonads and parabasalids

◆ Lack proper mitochondria and plastids
having apparently lost them during their
evolution but have its remnants.
◆ Are adapted to anaerobic environments
(1) Excavates: i. Diplomonads

◆ Have two nuclei and multiple flagella

5 µm
(a) Giardia intestinalis, a diplomonad

◆ Giardia spp are human parasites that cause

the diarrheal illness known as giardiasis
 (1) Excavates: ii. Parabasalids

Parabasalids include Trichomonads

◆ which move by means of flagella and an
undulating part of the plasma membrane
Flagella

Flagellated protozoan
parasite and the
causative agent of
trichomoniasis.

Undulating membrane

(b) Trichomonas vaginalis, a parabasalid

 (1) Excavates: iii. Euglenids
◆ Have one or two flagella that emerge from a
pocket at one end of the cell
◆ Lack cell wall but often photosynthetic (can

also be heterotrophic in absence of light)

 (1)Excavates: iv. Kinetoplastids
Kinetoplastids
◆ Flagellated, having a single, large
mitochondrion that contains an organized
mass of DNA called a kinetoplast (kDNA)
◆ Include free-living consumers of bacteria in
freshwater, marine, and moist terrestrial
ecosystems

The parasitic kinetoplastid:

Trypanosoma brucei
- Causes sleeping sickness in
humans
9 m
 2. Chromalveolates
• descended by one secondary endosymbiosis,
with plastids from red algal cell

(a) Alveolates (b) Stramenopiles

• Posses a sac (alveoli)
under membrane
• Typically have two flagella of
• Unicellular unequal length, hairy & smooth
• Most are photosynthetic • Some are photosynthetic
• Diverse in body forms
(2a) Alveolates: i. Dinoflagellates
Dinoflagellates
◆ Are a diverse group of aquatic photoautotrophs and
heterotrophs
◆ Are abundant components of both marine and
freshwater phytoplankton

Flagella
Two flagella;
Make them spin as they
move through the water

◆ Rapid growth of some dinoflagellates is responsible

for causing “red tides,” which can be toxic to humans
and other animals due to the toxin produced
Dinoflagellates cause red tide

“red tides” – algal bloom

(2a) Alveolates: ii. Apicomplexans
Apicomplexans
◆ Are parasites of animals and some cause
serious human diseases
◆ Are so named because one end, the apex,
contains a complex of organelles specialized
for penetrating host cells and tissues
◆ Have a non-photosynthetic plastid, the

apicoplast
▪ E.g. Plasmodium spp
(malaria parasite)
 (2a) Alveolates: iii. Ciliates
Ciliates, a large varied group of Protists
◆ Are named for their use of cilia to move & feed
▪ Highly motile
◆ Have large macronuclei and small micronuclei
e.g. Paramecium
Micronuclei function during
conjugation, a sexual
process that produces
genetic variation

Macronuclei- non-
reproductive cell functions
 (2b) Stramenopiles: i. Diatoms
• unicellular algae with a unique two-part, glass-
like wall of hydrated silica
• are a major component of phytoplankton
(photosynthesizing microscopic organisms)
◆ And are highly diverse
(2b) Stramenopiles: ii. Golden Algae

Golden algae, or chrysophytes

◆ Are named for their golden color, which
results from their yellow and brown
carotenoids
The cells of golden algae
◆ Are typically bi-flagellated, with both flagella
25 µm
attached near one end of the cell

- Most golden algae are unicellular

- But some are colonial
(2b) Stramenopiles: iii. Brown Algae
Brown algae, or phaeophytes
◆ Are the largest and most complex algae
◆ Are all multicellular, and most are marine

▪ Include many of the species commonly called

seaweeds
Blade

Stipe

Holdfast

▪ Seaweeds have the most complex multicellular

anatomy of all algae
(2b) Stramenopiles: iv. Oomycetes
Oomycetes
◆ Include nonphotosynthetic water molds,
white rusts, and downy mildews
◆ Were once considered fungi based on

morphological similarties but no chitin in the

cell wall
Most oomycetes
◆ Are decomposers or parasites
◆ Have filaments (hyphae) that facilitate
nutrient uptake,
Phytophthora infestans
causes late blight of
potatoes (plant pathogen)
 3: Rhizaria

• Most are amoeboid (pseudopods

locomotion)
• Unicellular and aquatic mostly
• Examples;
• Forams
• Radiolarians
• Chlorarachniophyte – ameoboid, mixtrophic
marine algae (small group)
 (3) Rhizaria: i. Forams
Foraminiferans, or forams
◆ Are named for their porous, generally multi-
chambered external shells, called tests
20 µm

◆ Irregular network of pseudopods

◆ Shells (tests) have contributed to limestone

deposits
 (3) Rhizaria: ii. Radiolarians

Radiolarians are marine protists

◆ tests are fused into one delicate piece, which is
generally made of silica

The pseudopodia of radiolarians, known as

axopodia and radiate from the central body

◆ They phagocytosize
microorganisms with
their pseudopodia

200 µm
Axopodia
 4. Unikots
Unikonts
• Organisms with single
flagella (at least
ancestrally)
• includes animals,
fungi, and some
protists

(a) Amoebozoans (b) Opisthokonts

• Move by means of lobe- • Flagellum is posterior
shaped pseudopodia • Choanoflagellates resemble
• Slime molds, gymnamoebas, the cells of sponges and are
entamoebas sister to the animal clade,
unicellular/colonial marine or
freshwater protozoans
(4a) Amoebazoans: i. Slime molds
Slime molds, or mycetozoans
◆ Were once thought to be fungi

Many species of plasmodial slime molds

◆ Are brightly pigmented, usually yellow or
orange

4 cm
(4a) Amoebazoans: II. Entamoebas
Entamoebas
◆ Are parasites of vertebrates and some
invertebrates

Entamoeba histolytica
◆ Causes amoebic dysentery (bloody diarrhea)
in humans
(4a) Amoebazoans: iii. Gymnamoebas
Gymnamoebas
◆ Are common unicellular amoebozoans in
soil, freshwater and marine environments

Most gymnamoebas are

Pseudopodia
heterotrophic 40 µm

◆Actively seek and

consume bacteria and other
protists
5. Archaeplastids: Red and Green Algae

• Red algae (phycoerythrin) and green algae

(plant-like chlorophyll)
• Unicellular or Multicellular
• Includes Land plants

Delesseria sanguinea, a Spirogyra, a filamentous

multicellular marine red algae freshwater green algae
 Protists reproduction and life cycles
Most Protists reproduce both asexually and
sexually
Asexual binary fission in protists is the major
mechanism of reproduction.
Some by multiple fission and budding.

Budding in Arcella
Binary fission in paramecium & amoeba
 Protists reproduction and life cycles
Sexual: conjugation in Paramecium is a sexual process used
to obtain genetic variation, they normally reproduce by fission

• The micronuclei: engaged in sexual reproduction

(conjugation, results in genetic recombination & variation)
Protists reproduction and life cycles
Alternation of generations is key feature in many
multicellular protists such as most marine algae

Includes multicellular diploid sporophyte stage and

multicellular haploid gametophyte stage. E.g. Ulva
Ecological Impact of Protists is very significant:

▪ Protists play key roles in aquatic ecosystem because

they perform photosynthesis along with some other
prokaryotes

▪ Non-photosynthetic protists are consumers that

dominate the lowest levels of most aquatic food chain

▪ Some protist symbionts benefit their hosts – e.g. wood-

digesting protists digest cellulose in the gut of termites

▪ Many protists are parasites – they live in, or on, other

organisms, some cause serious disease (ex: malaria,
sleeping sickness, ameobic dysentry, beaver fever)
Ecological Impact of Protists is very significant:
• Phytoplankton are the primary producers in
the marine environment.
• The diatoms, part of the plankton, are
responsible for up to a fifth of all carbon
fixation on Earth
• Decompose and recycle nutrient
• Make huge part of food chain (e.g.
zooplanktons)
• Ancient diatoms are a major source of today’s
petroleum deposits
 Direct Effect on humans
• Some Protists are deadly on humans and
animals
• Pathogenic microbial eukaryotes include
species of Plasmodium and
Trypanosomes
• Several are plant pathogens causing
disease in plants
• Many seaweeds are important commodities
for humans
◆ Are harvested for food

◆ Industrial Products e.g. agar

Sushi - food
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