Classification and

characteristics of protists
Parasites

 Defined as
organisms that must live in or
on a species to get their
nourishment
Parasites

 There are two different groups of

eukaryotic parasites of concern to
microbiology because of their
 Ability to cause infectious disease.
 One group contains single-celled
protists
 The second group are multicellular
parasites, referred to as helminths
(helminth = “worm”).
 These include the flatworms and
roundworms, which together probably
infect more people worldwide than
any other group of organisms.
parasites

 flatworms and roundworms are

animals, but they are studied in
microbiology because of their ability
to cause disease. Together with the
parasitic protists, they are the subject
of study of the biological discipline
known as parasitology.
The Classification and
Characteristics of the Protista
 There are about 200,000 named
species of protists, some seen by
Leeuwenhoek over 300 years ago.
 The protists are an extremely diverse
group of eukaryotes that often are
very difficult to classify.
It is difficult to classify protists
 1-some algal species are multicellular,
 2- the slime molds have unique life cycles
with unicellular, colonial, and multicellular
stages.
 3-Protista. As such, their taxonomic
relationships are diverse and are not
always well understood
 4-some species are more like animal or
plant cell than they are like other members
of protista
Discovery of protists

 The protists were first seen by Antony

van Leeuwenhoek more than 300
years ago when he wrote in a letter
to the Royal Society, “No more
pleasant sight has met my eye than
this.”
 General characteristics of protists

 protists are primarily unicellular;

however, the functions of the single
cell bear a resemblance to the
functions of multicellular organism
rather than to those of an isolated cell
from the organism.
General characteristics of protists
 Most protists are free-living and
thrive where there is water.They
maybe located in damp soil, mud, .
drainage, and puddles. Some species
remain attached to aquatic plants or
rocks,
 while other species swim about where
there is water
General characteristics of protists
 Protists also are very diverse
nutritionally.
 Many are heterotrophic and obtain
their energy and organic molecules
from other organisms,

 often obtaining these materials by

forming a parasitic relationship
General characteristics of protists
 Others, including the red and green
algae, contain chloroplasts and
 carry out photosynthesis similar to
green plants
Dinoflagellates

 Some protists, such as the

dinoflagellates,
 are part of the freshwater and marine
phytoplankton
 Dinoflagellates are able to be both
heterotrophic and photosynthetic,
making them important primary
producers in the world’s ocean
Radiolarians
 Other marine protists also are part of the
marine phytoplankton.
 radiolarians have highly sculptured and
glassy silica plates with radiating cytoplasmic
arms to capture prey
 RADIOLARIAN OOZE ;
 The skeletons of dead radiolarians litter the
ocean floor, forming deposits, sometimes
hundreds of meters thick, called “radiolarian
ooze.”
Foraminiferans

 foraminiferans (forams) are marine

protists that have chalky skeletons, often in
the shape of snail shells with openings
between sections (foram = “little hole”).
 The shells of dead forams form sediments
hundreds of meters thick. When brought to
the surface by geologic upthrusting,
massive white cliffs have formed
Chalky deposits-shells of forams
DIATOMS
 diatoms are another group of single
celled protists. By being encased in a
two-part, hard-shelled, silica wall,
the cells can withstand great
pressures and are not easily crushed
or destroyed by predators
Diversity in shapes of diatoms
DIATOMS
 Diatoms carry out photosynthesis and
compose an important part of the
phytoplankton found in marine and
freshwater environment
DIATOMS

 The massive accumulations of

fossilized diatom walls are mined and
ground up into diatomaceous earth,
 Which has many useful applications,
such as;
 1-filtering agent in swimming pools
DIATOMS
 2-a mild abrasive in household
products including toothpastes and
metal polishes
 3-Diatomaceous earth also can be
used as a pesticide, because it grinds
holes in the exoskeleton of crawling
insects, causing the animals
to desiccate.
FUNGUS LIKE PROTISTS
These include 2 groups that are as follows

1;Oomycetes
2;Myxomycetes

.
 However, these protists resemble fungi
because they produce a filamentous growth
characteristic of the molds
OOMYCETES
 Oomycetes are completely heterotrophic
and absorb extracellularly digested food
materials.
 Some are plant pathogens.
Phytophthora ramorum, for example,
infects the California coastal live oak and
causes sudden oak death
PROTOZOA

 The protists also include many motile,

predatory, or parasitic species that absorb or
ingest food.
 These protists traditionally have been called
the protozoa (proto = “first; zoo = “animal”),
referring to their animal-like properties that
incorrectly suggested to biologists that
protozoa were close evolutionary ancestors of
the first animal
 they are unicellular, most have a microscopic size,
and several are responsible for infectious disease
The Protozoa Encompass
a Variety of Lifestyles
 protozoa are a group of about 65,000
species of single-celled
microorganisms.
 A tentative taxonomy, based on
comparative studies involving genetic
analysis and genomics, places the
protists in one of six informal super
groups
 1-Super Group Excavata.

 This group contains species that are single-

celled and possess flagella for motility
 Some members in the group may represent
organisms whose ancestors were the earliest
forms of eukaryotes.
 They are divided into 3 groups
 1-parabasalids
 2-diplomonads
 3-euglenozoa
1-PARABASALIDS

 Members of the parabasalids lack

mitochondria and, as such, live in low
oxygen or anaerobic environments.
 Several species, including Trichonympha,
are found in the guts of termites where the
symbionts participate in a mutualistic
relationship
 The cells contain hundreds of flagella with
the typical 9+2 arrangement of
microtubules found in all eukaryotic
flagella
1-PARABASALIDS

 Undulations sweep down the flagella to

the tip, and the lashing motion forces
water outward to provide locomotion
Trichomonas vaginalis, is parasitic in
humans
2-Diplomonads

 The diplomonad can survive outside the

anaerobic environment of the intestine by
forming a cyst, which is a dormant, highly
resistant stage.
 So many lakes and rivers in the United
States are contaminated with the cysts, so
must first boil or filter the water before
drinking
2-Diplomonads

 diplomonads have two haploid nuclei and

three pairs of flagella at the anterior end
and one pair at the posterior end, giving
the cell bilateral symmetry.
 Reproduction is only asexual by binary
fission.
 The most notable species is Giardia
intestinalis
 It is spread through contaminated water
and thus, affects the gastrointestinal tract.
3-Euglenozoa

 Among these are the kinetoplastids,

 another ancient lineage of heterotrophic species

 kinetoplastids have the typical array of

eukaryotic organelles and the single
mitochondrion contains a mass of DNA called the
kinetoplast
3-Euglenozoa

 Some 60% of the kinetoplastid species

are Trypanosomes trypano = “hole”;
soma = “body”), referring to the hole
the organism bores to enter and infect
the host
 Two Trypanosoma species are
transmitted by insects and cause forms
of human sleeping sickness in Africa
and South America , affecting millions of
people
 Species of Leishmania, which is also
transmitted by insects, can produce a skin
disease or an often fatal visceral infection.
2-Super Group Amoebozoa

 , Amoebas , are mostly free-living, single-

celled organisms that can be as large, as 1
mm in diameter
 The amoebas are soft bodied the ability to
change shape (amoeba = “change”) as their
organisms that have cytoplasm flows into
temporary formless cytoplasmic
 Projections called pseudopods pseudo =
“false”; pod = “foot”); thus, the motion is
called amoeboid motion.
Super Group Amoebozoa

 Function of pseudopods;

 Pseudopods also capture bacteria small

algae, and other protozoa through the
ingestive process of phagocytosis
 The pseudopods enclose the particles to
form an organelle called a food vacuole,
which then joins with lysosomes.
 The lysosomes contain digestive enzymes
to digest the material in the captured
prey.
Super Group Amoebozoa

 Nutrients are absorbed from the vacuole, and

any undigested residue is eliminated from the
cell
 Genus ENTAMOEBA
 The genus Entamoeba can be far more serious,
as all species are parasitic...
 In humans, amoebic dysentery or
encephalitis may result from drinking water or
consuming food contaminated with amoebal
cysts
.
Super Group Amoebozoa

 Amoebic dysentery is the third leading cause of

death due to a Parasitic infection.
3-Super Group Chromalveolata

 This group is very diverse, and

includes
 1-dinoflagellates
 2-diatoms
 3-ciliates
 4-apicomplexans
 CILIATES

•The ciliated protozoans, or ciliates, are

among the most complex cells on Earth
•They are found in almost any pond water
sample
•They have a variety of shapes and can
exhibit elaborate and controlled behavior
patterns.
•The cytoplasm contains the typical
eukaryotic organelles.
CILIATES

 Ciliates range in size from a microscopic

10 μm to a huge 3 mm.
 All ciliates are covered with cilia (sing.,
cilium) in longitudinal or spiral rows. Cilia
beat in a synchronized and coordinated
pattern, the organized “rowing ” action
moving the ciliate along in one direction.
CILIATES

 Ciliates, such as Paramecium, are

heterotrophic by ingestion through a
primitive gullet , which sweeps in food
particles for digestion.
 In addition, freshwater protozoa
continually take in water by the process
of osmosis and eliminate the excess
water via organelles called contractile
vacuoles
Reproduction in ciliates

 Asexual reproduction in the ciliates occurs by

binary fission.
 For sexual reproduction Ciliates have two types
of nuclei; there is a single large macronucleus
that only has the genes for cell metabolism, and
one micronucleus that contains a complete set
of genes
 During sexual recombination called
conjugation two cells make contact and a
cytoplasmic bridge forms between them
Reproduction in ciliates

 A micronucleus from each cell undergoes two

divisions to form four micronuclei, of which three
disintegrate and only one remains to undergo
Mitosis.
 This genetic recombination is outwardly
analogous to what occurs in bacterial cells. It is
observed during periods of environmental stress,
a factor that suggests the formation of
genetically different and perhaps, better-adapted
organism
Apicomplexans
an example of Chlormalveolata

 so named because the apical tip of the

cell contains a complex of organelles used
for penetrating host cells
 Adult apicomplexan cells have no cilia or
flagella, although a few species have
flagellated gametes.
 These animal parasites of the
Chromalveolata have a complex life cycle
including alternating
sexual and asexual reproductive phases.
 These phases often occur in different
hosts
 Plasmodium and Toxoplasma, are of speciaL
significance because the first causes one of the
most prolific killers of humans—malaria—and
the second is associated with AIDS.