Protist lab biology

Amoebozoan Clade

Amoebozoa is a major taxonomic group containing about 2,400 described species of amoeboid protists, often possessing blunt, fingerlike, lobose pseudopods and tubular mitochondrial cristae. Amoebozoa includes many of the best-known amoeboid organisms, such as Chaos, Entamoeba, Pelomyxa and the genus Amoeba itself. Species of Amoebozoa may be either shelled (testate), or naked, and cells may possess flagella. Free-living species are common in both salt and freshwater as well as soil, moss and leaf litter. Some live as parasites or symbiotes of other organisms, and some are known to cause disease in humans and other organisms. While the majority of amoebozoan species are unicellular, the group also includes several varieties of slime molds, which have a macroscopic, multicellular stage of life during which individual amoeboid cells aggregate to produce spores

Supergroup Archaeplastida

Archaeplastida are autotrophs and include red algae, green algae and land plants. Plastids in red and green algae arose by primary endosymbiosis by engulfing a cyanobacterium.

Archaeplastida: Chlorophyta Clade (Green Algae): Genus ​Chlamydomonas

Chlamydomonas is a genus of green algae consisting of about 325 species all unicellular flagellates, found in stagnant water and ondamp soil, in freshwater, seawater, and even in snow as "snow algae". Chlamydomonas is used as a model organism for molecular biology, especially studies of flagellar motility and chloroplast dynamics, biogeneses, and genetics. One of the many striking features of Chlamydomonas is that it contains ion channels that are directly activated by light.

SAR: Stramenopile Clade: Silicoflagellates: Order Dictyochales

Dictyochales (Silicoflagellates, or Dictyochophyceae) are a small group of unicellular heterokont algae, found in marine environments. In one stage of their life cycle, they produce a siliceous skeleton, composed of a network of bars and spikes arranged to form an internal basket. These form a small component of marine sediments, and are known as microfossils from as far back as the early Cretaceous.

Supergroup Excavata

Excavata is a major supergroup of unicellular organisms belonging to the domain Eukaryota. Itcontains a variety of free-living and symbiotic forms, and also includes some important parasites of humans. Excavates were formerly considered to be included in the now obsolete Protista kingdom. They are classified based on their flagellar structures, and they are considered to be the oldest members (basal lineage) of flagellated organisms.

SAR: Stramenopile Clade: Brown Algae: Genus ​Fucus

Fucus is a genus of brown algae found in the intertidal zones of rocky seashores almost throughout the world.

Chlorophyta Clade (Green Algae)

Green Algae include Chlorophytes and Charophytes. These are most common in freshwater.These have Chlorophyll a and b, store food as starch and have cellulose in cell walls. All characteristics are common with plants. Algae lack multicellular sex organs.They have various forms: unicellular-Chlamydomonas; filamentous-Spirogyra; leafy - Ulva or colonial - Volvox with daughter colonies inside. Land plants originated from charophytes.

SAR: Stramenopile Clade: Brown Algae: Genus ​Laminaria

Laminaria is a genus of 31 species of brown algae commonly called "kelp". Some species are also referred to as tangle. This economically important genus is characterized by long, leathery laminae and relatively large size. It is found in the north Atlantic Ocean and the northern Pacific Ocean at depths from 8 to 30 m (26 to 98 ft) (exceptionally to 120 m (390 ft) in the warmer waters of the Mediterranean Sea and off Brazil). Laminaria form a habitat for many fish and invertebrates. The life cycle of Laminaria has heteromorphic alternation of generations which differs from Fucus. The most apparent form of Laminaria is its sporophyte phase, a structure composed of the holdfast, the stipe, and the blades. While it spends its time predominately in the sporophyte phase, it alternates between the sporophyte and its microscopic gametophyte phase.

Supergroup Excavata Euglenozoan Clade, Genus Euglena

Most of the members of this clade are free-living species and have one long flagellum used in locomotion along with a second, shorter one. Many of the members of this group are heterotrophic but some are also mixotrophic (can be heterotrophic or autotrophic) and so can use photosynthesis as a source of energy depending on the environmental conditions. Euglena is a well known genus of the euglenozoans and is a mixotroph. Identify the following structures on the drawing below: Eyespot, Chloroplasts, Flagellum, Nucleus

Archaeplastida: Chlorophyta Clade (Green Algae): Genus ​Oedogonium

Oedogonium is a genus of filamentous green algae, with unbranched filaments that are one cell thick. Oedogonium can be free-floating, though it is usually attached to aquatic plants by a holdfast. It appears greenish and inhabits calm, freshwater.

Archaeplastida: Chlorophyta Clade (Green Algae): Genus ​Pandorina

Pandorina is a genus of green algae composed of several cells, held together at their bases to form a sack globular colony surrounded by mucilage. The cells are ovoid or slightly narrowed at one end to appear keystone- or pear-shaped. Each cell has two flagella with two contractile vacuoles at their base, an eyespot, and a large cup-shaped chloroplast with at least one pyrenoid. The colonies co-ordinate their flagellar movement to create a rolling, swimming motion. Pandorina shows the beginnings of the colony polarity and differentiation seen in Volvox since the anterior cells have larger eyespots.

Supergroup Excavata Parabasalid Clade Genus trichomoniasis

Parabasalids are typical excavates in that they are unicellular, anaerobic and are flagellated. It is different in that it has a modified golgi apparatus at the base of its flagella (you won't see it in the microscope). One of the best known examples of a parabasalid is the bacterium that cause the sexually transmitted disease as trichomoniasis or "trich". The species of bacterium that inhabits the lower genital regions of men or women is called Trichomonas vaginalis Trichomonas vaginalis is an anaerobic, flagellated protozoan parasite and the causative agent of trichomoniasis. It is the most common pathogenic protozoan infection of humans in industrialized countries. Infection rates between men and women are similar with women being symptomatic, while infections in men are usually asymptomatic. Transmission usually occurs via direct, skin-to-skin contact with an infected individual, most often through vaginal intercourse

SAR: Alveolate Clade: Ciliates: Genus ​Paramecium

Paramecium is a genus of unicellular ciliates, commonly studied as a representative of the ciliate group. Paramecia are widespread in freshwater, brackish, and marine environments and are often very abundant in stagnant basins and ponds. Because some species are readily cultivated and easily induced to conjugate and divide, it has been widely used in classrooms and laboratories to study biological processes. Its usefulness as a model organism has caused one ciliate researcher to characterize it as the "white rat" of the phylum Ciliophora.

SAR: Alveolate Clade: Apicomplexa: ​Plasmodium falciparum

Plasmodium falciparum is a unicellular protozoan parasite of humans, and the deadliest species of Plasmodium that cause malaria in humans. It is transmitted through the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito. It is responsible for roughly 50% of all malaria cases. It causes the disease's most dangerous form called falciparum malaria. It is therefore regarded as the deadliest parasite in humans, causing a conservative estimate of one million deaths every year.

Archaeplastida: Rhodophyta Clade (Red Algae): Genus ​Polysiphonia

Polysiphonia is a genus of filamentous red algae with about 19 species on the coasts of the British Isles and about 200 species worldwide, including Crete in Greece, Antarctica and Greenland. Its members are known by a number of common names.

Supergroup SAR (Stramenopiles, Alveolates, Rhizarians)

Sar or Harosa (informally the SAR supergroup) is a clade that includes stramenopiles (heterokonts), alveolates, and Rhizaria. The first letter of each group provides the "SAR" in the name.

SAR: Stramenopile Clade: Brown Algae: Genus ​Sargassum

Sargassum is a genus of brown macroalgae (seaweed) in the order Fucales. Numerous species are distributed throughout the temperate and tropical oceans of the world, where they generally inhabit shallow water and coral reefs, and the genus is widely known for its planktonic (free-floating) species. Most species within the group are predominantly cold-water organisms that benefit from nutrients upwelling, but the genus Sargassum appears to be an exception. The Atlantic Ocean's Sargasso Sea was named after the algae, as it hosts a large amount of Sargassum.

Unikonta: Amoebozoan Clade: Slime Molds: Genus ​Stemonitis/Physarum

Slime Molds are naked protists which feed by phagocytosis. Plasmodial Slime Molds have multinucleate protoplasmic masses called plasmodium. These reproduce asexually by spores formed in walled sporangia in a cluster called fruiting body. Spores develop into amoeboid or flagellated gametes. Common example is Physarum species. Cellular Slime Molds live as solitary amoeboid cells. Under unfavorable conditions these can form aggregations called pseudoplasmodium. When favorable conditions return sporangia in a fruiting body produce spores. The spores give rise to single cells to complete the cycle.

Archaeplastida: Chlorophyta Clade (Green Algae): Genus ​Spirogyra

Spirogyra (common names include water silk, mermaid's tresses, and blanket weed) is a genus of filamentous charophyte green algae, named for the helical or spiral arrangement of the chloroplasts that is characteristic of the genus. It is commonly found in freshwater habitats, and there are more than 400 species of Spirogyra in the world. Spirogyra measures approximately 10 to 100 μm in width and may grow to several centimeters in length.

SAR: Alveolate Clade: Ciliates: Genus ​Stentor

Stentor, sometimes called trumpet animalcules, are a genus of filter-feeding, heterotrophic ciliates. They are usually horn-shaped, and reach lengths of two millimeters; as such, they are among the biggest known extant unicellular organisms. They reproduce asexually through binary fission.

SAR: Stramenopile Clade: Diatoms

Stramenopiles have diatoms, golden algae, Yellow-green algae, brown algae and oomycetes. Most have one long hairy and one short smooth flagellum. SAR: Stramenopile Clade: Diatoms Diatoms (100,000 species) are most abundant unicellular forms in oceans. The body is covered with an intricately designed 2-half silica shell. Adults are Diploid and lack cilia or flagella. Main reproduction is by binary fission. Sexual reproduction is by flagellated gametes. The remains of shells produce Diatomaceous earth mined for filtering and abrasive materials. It acts as Biological Carbon Pump to move CO2 from air to sea floor. Diatoms are most important producers in biosphere.

SAR: Rhizarian Clade: Radiolarians: Mixed Species

The Radiolaria are protozoa of diameter 0.1-0.2 mm that produce intricate mineral skeletons, typically with a central capsule dividing the cell into the inner and outer portions of endoplasm and ectoplasm.The elaborate mineral skeleton is usually made of silica. They are found as zooplankton throughout the ocean, and their skeletal remains make up a large part of the cover of the ocean floor as siliceous ooze.

SAR: Rhizarian Clade: Foraminiferans: Mixed Species

The Rhizaria are a species-rich group clade of mostly unicellular eukaryotes. Being described mainly from rDNA sequences, they vary considerably in form, having no clear morphological distinctive characters (synapomorphies), but for the most part they are amoeboids with filose, reticulose, or microtubule-supported pseudopods. Many produce shells or skeletons, which may be quite complex in structure, and these make up the vast majority of protozoan fossils. Nearly all have mitochondria with tubular cristae. Foraminifera (Latin for "hole bearers") are members of a phylum or class of amoeboid protists characterized by streaming granular ectoplasm for catching food and other uses; and commonly an external shell (called a "test") of diverse forms and materials. Tests of chitin (found in some simple genera, and Textularia in particular) are believed to be the most primitive type. Most foraminifera are marine, the majority of which live on or within the seafloor sediment (i.e., are benthic), while a smaller variety float in the water column at various depths (i.e., are planktonic). Foraminifera typically produce a test, or shell, which can have either one or multiple chambers, some becoming quite elaborate in structure. These shells are commonly made of calcium carbonate (CaCO3 ) or agglutinated sediment particles.

SAR: Alveolate Clade: Dinoflagellates: Genus ​Ceratium

The alveolates (meaning "with cavities") are a group of protists, considered a major clade and superphylum within Eukarya, and are also called Alveolata. The most notable shared characteristic is the presence of cortical (outer-region) alveoli (sacs). These are flattened vesicles (sacs) packed into a continuous layer just under the membrane and supporting it, typically forming a flexible pellicle (thin skin). In dinoflagellates they often form armor plates. Alveolates have mitochondria with tubular cristae (ridges), and their flagella or cilia have a distinct structure. The genus Ceratium includes species of freshwater and marine dinoflagellates. Most species of Ceratium are unicellular organisms that are characterized by their armored plates, two flagella, and horns. Species of Ceratium are found worldwide and are of concern due to their blooms.

Opisthokont Clade

The opisthokonts or Choanozoa are a broad group of eukaryotes, including both the animal and fungus kingdoms, together with the eukaryotic microorganisms that are sometimes grouped in the paraphyletic phylum Choanozoa (conventionally assigned to the protist "kingdom"). The opisthokonts, previously called the "Fungi/Metazoa group", are generally recognized as a clade.

Rhodophyta Clade (Red Algae)

These are mainly filamentous or leafy. Besides Chlorophyll a, these have red and blue pigments to give various colors. Red algae are delicate seaweeds and are important sources of gelling agents like Agar.

Excavata: Eugelnozoan Clade: Genus ​Trypanosoma

Trypanosoma is a genus of kinetoplastids (class Kinetoplastida), a monophyletic group of Unicellular parasitic flagellate protozoa. The name is derived from the Greek trypano-(borer) and soma (body) because of their corkscrew-like motion. Most trypanosomes are heteroxenous (requiring more than one obligatory host to complete life cycle) and most are transmitted via a vector. The majority of species are transmitted by blood-feeding invertebrates, but there are different mechanisms among the varying species. Some, such as Trypanosoma equiperdum, are spread by direct contact. In an invertebrate host they are generally found in the intestine, but normally occupy the bloodstream or an intracellular environment in the mammalian host. Trypanosomes infect a variety of hosts and cause various diseases, including the fatal human diseases sleeping sickness, caused by Trypanosoma brucei (formerly called Trypanosoma gambiense), and Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi.

Unikonta: Amoebozoan Clade: Tubulinids: Genus ​Amoeba

Tubulinids form tube like pseudopodia and are covered with cell membrane. They change, all the time, their body-shape. They feed by phagocytosis. Freshwater forms have contractile vacuoles to expel excess water. Common example is Amoeba proteus.

Supergroup Unikonta

Unikonts or Amorphea are members of a taxonomic supergroup that includes the basal Amoebozoa and Obazoa. That latter contains the Opisthokonta, which includes the Fungi, Animals and the Choanomonada, or Choanoflagellates.

SAR: Stramenopile Clade: Yellow-green Algae: ​Vaucheria geminata

Vaucheria is a genus of Xanthophyceae or yellow-green algae. Vaucheria exhibits apical growth from the tip of filaments forming mats in either terrestrial or freshwater environments. Its filaments form coenocytes with a large central vacuole pushing against the surrounding cytoplasm. The chloroplasts are located on the periphery of the cytoplasm with the nuclei aggregating toward the center near the vacuole.

Archaeplastida: Chlorophyta Clade (Green Algae): Genus ​Volvox

Volvox is a genus of chlorophyte green algae in the family Volvocaceae. It forms spherical colonies of up to 50,000 cells. They live in a variety of freshwater habitats, and were first reported by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in 1700.

SAR: Alveolate Clade: Ciliates: Genus ​Vorticella

Vorticella is a genus of bell-shaped ciliates that have stalks to attach themselves to substrates. The stalks have contractile myonemes, allowing them to pull the cell body against substrates. The formation of the stalk happens after the free-swimming stage.