Protists and Fungi Kingdoms

Chapter 9

What is a protist?

• A single or many-celled organism that lives in moist or wet surroundings.

What are properties of the protist kingdom?

• Eukaryotic

• One or many-celled

• Some move

• Some make their own food

• Some obtain it from others

It is believed that protists evolved from bacteria. Scientists believe this because protists are more complex than bacteria. Scientists also believe that protists are the ancestors of fungi, plants and animals. Protists that make their own food are thought to be the ancestors of plants, which makes sense because plants make their own food as well. It is hard to figure out the evolution of protists because they have such soft bodies meaning that many did not fossilize. There are plant-like protists and animal-like protists.

Plant-like protists:Protists that are plant-like are called algae. They can be one-called or many celled. All make their own food because they contain the pigment chlorophyll.

Euglena are characterized as both plant and animal. They have chlorophyll so they make their own food. Unlike plants, Euglena do not have cell walls. They move by using flagella. They also have an eyespot that is sensitive to light. Having the eyespot and the flagella make them animal like.

Diatoms make their own food, are one-celled and store their food in the form of an oil. They look golden brown but they still have chlorophyll, it is just masked by the brown color. When they die, they leave behind a shell, collect in large numbers on the bottom of bodies of water. These shells are used for insulation, filters and road paints. They are what makes road lines sparkle and make your toothpaste have a crunch when you brush your teeth.

Dinoflagellates, also known as fire algae, is one-celled. It is called fire algae because it has a red pigment along with its chlorophyll. Dinoflagellate means spinning flagellates. It spins similar to a top. They store their food in the form of starch and oil. They live in salt water mostly.

Green algae have chlorophyll and go through photosynthesis to make starch. They can live in water and live in moist areas on land. They also can be one-celled or many-celled.

Red algae are found in things that you eat and use. Pudding and toothpaste is made with red algae. The carrageenan that is in red algae give these two things their smooth texture. Most of them are many-celled. There is not a lot of light where they live so their pigment helps them to catch the light that does get down that deep underwater. They need this limited light to make their food.

Brown algae is many-celled. It is a food source to a lot of fish and invertebrates in the water. Fish and other animals live in the leaves of this alga. Brown algae is eaten by some cultures. The carbohydrate that it makes is used in food such as ice cream and marshmallows. It is also used for fertilizer.

Animal-like protists:They are known as protozoa. They live in water, soil, and in both living and dead organisms. Many are parasites. There are four kinds of protozoans. They are sarodines, flagellates, ciliates, and sporozoans.

An amoeba is an example of a rhizopoda. They get their food and move using pseudopods. Pseudopods are a temporary extension of the cytoplasm. They are called false feet. They trap food by: extending their pseudopods (by cytoplasmic streaming) around the food particle. They close around the food particle trapping it in. A vacuole then forms around the food particle.

Flagellates: protists that use flagella to move around. They have one or more flagella that whip through water. Most live in fresh water and some are parasites. An example would be the parasite that causes African sleeping sickness. Another example would be the flagellates that lives in the digestive tract of termites. If these were not there then termites would not be able to digest their food, which is wood.

Ciliates: These are the most complex of the protists. They move by using cilia. Cilia are: short, thread-like structures that extend from the cell membrane. Use in movement and grabbing food. Most common of the ciliates is the paramecium. Food gets swept into the oral groove. The food then goes into a food vacuole.

Fungus-like protists:Some fungus-like protists have characteristics of both protists and fungi. One example would be slime molds. They usually are very brightly colored. The cells of these protists work like amoebas. They have pseudopods. They produce spores for reproduction like fungi do. They are mostly found on decaying logs or dead leaves in moist, cool, shady areas.

Other examples would be water molds, downy mildew and white rusts. They live in water or moist places. Water molds are fuzzy things on stuff that is decaying. One kind of fungus-like protist caused the potato famine in Ireland. They have a cell wall like fungi but they have simple cells like those of protozoa. Water mold causes diseases in many plants.

Where can you find fungi in your kitchen?

You can find mushrooms, mold, yeast and many more that you might not even see!!

What is the importance of fungi?

They break down and decompose organic materials. Remember that organic materials are anything that has carbon in it. These would be be food matter, dead animals or plants and clothing. They help return the material to the soil. They are the natural recyclers

What are the characteristics of fungi? Fungi are Eukaryotic, one or many-celled, DON’T move and DO NOT make their own food…they obtain it from other organisms. Their body is made up of tiny, thread-like tubes called hyphae.

What are spores? Reproductive cells the form new organisms without fertilization. How spores are produced decide what group a fungi belongs to.

What are they used for?They are used so that fungi can reproduce.

What is an example of zygote fungi?

Fuzzy black mold that you see on breads and fruit and other food in your fridge.

What are sporangia?

The round cases that Zygote fungi keep their spores. When it splits open, millions of spores are released into the air. If the spore lands in a moist place, then more mold will grow where the spore lands.

What are some examples of sac fungi?

Yeast, mold, morels and truffles

What is an ascus?

The sac that spores of sac fungi are found! Spores are released when the sac breaks open.

Why are sac fungi harmful?

They destroy crops, and causes diseases on plants. It can also be helpful. We use yeast to make bread, a lot of people eat truffles and morels. They are are very expensive.

What is budding?

When a new organism grows off the side of the parent. This is a form of asexual reproduction. Some fungi reproduce through budding over reproducing with spores.

Where are spores produced in club fungi?

They are produced in a basidium. This is a club looking structure. The spores lay on what look like gills on the fungi.

How are club fungi economically important?

They can cause crop damage (rusts and smuts). Humans also eat some kinds of mushroom. FYI…never eat a wild mushroom unless you know that it is not poisonous!!

What is an important example of imperfect fungi?

Penicillium…the fungi used to make penicillin

Other examples would be the imperfect fungi that causes athlete’s foot and ringworm.

What is a lichen?

An organism that is made of fungi and either a green alga or a cyanobacteria. These two have a relationship with each other where both benefit. The alga get a moist area to live in, that is protected and the fungus gets its food from the alga.

What is the importance of lichen?

They are food to many animals. They help with erosion (they give off an acid that breaks down rocks and cause them to erode away. They also help in monitoring pollution. Lichens die when there is an increase in pollution.