Protozoa Protozoan Protozoans: History Characteristics Size Habitat Feeding Motility Pellicle
Protozoa Protozoan Protozoans: History Characteristics Size Habitat Feeding Motility Pellicle
Protozoa Protozoan Protozoans: History Characteristics Size Habitat Feeding Motility Pellicle
celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, which feed on organic matter such as
other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris.[1][2] Historically, the protozoa were
regarded as "one-celled animals", because they often possess animal-like behaviors, such
asmotility and predation, and lack a cell wall, as found in plants and manyalgae.[3][4] Although
the traditional practice of grouping protozoa with animals is no longer considered valid, the
term continues to be used in a loose way to identify single-celled organisms that can move
independently and feed by heterotrophy.
Contents
1History
2Characteristics
o 2.1Size
o 2.2Habitat
o 2.3Feeding
o 2.4Motility
o 2.5Pellicle
o 2.6Life cycle
3Classification
4Ecology
o 4.1Disease
5References
6Bibliography
7External links
History[edit]
Class Protozoa, order Infusoria, family Monades by Georg August Goldfuss, c. 1844
John Hogg's illustration of the Four Kingdoms of Nature, showing "Primigenal" as a greenish haze at
the base of the Animals and Plants, 1860
As a phylum under Animalia, the Protozoa were firmly rooted in the old "two-kingdom"
classification of life, according to which all living beings were classified as either animals or
plants. As long as this scheme remained dominant, the protozoa were understood to be
animals and studied in departments of Zoology, while photosynthetic microorganisms and
microscopic fungi—the so-called Protophyta—were assigned to the Plants, and studied in
departments of Botany.[18]
Criticism of this system began in the latter half of the 19th century, with the realization that
many organisms met the criteria for inclusion among both plants and animals. For example,
the algae Euglena and Dinobryon havechloroplasts for photosynthesis, but can also feed on
organic matter and aremotile. In 1860, John Hogg argued against the use of "protozoa", on
the grounds that "naturalists are divided in opinion—and probably some will ever continue
so—whether many of these organisms, or living beings, are animals or plants."[13] As an
alternative, he proposed a new kingdom called Primigenum, consisting of both the protozoa
and unicellular algae (protophyta), which he combined together under the name
"Protoctista". In Hoggs's conception, the animal and plant kingdoms were likened to two
great "pyramids" blending at their bases in the Kingdom Primigenum.
Six years later, Ernst Haeckel also proposed a third kingdom of life, which he
named Protista. At first, Haeckel included a few multicellular organisms in this kingdom, but
in later work he restricted the Protista to single-celled organisms, or simple colonies whose
individual cells are not differentiated into different kinds of tissues.
While many taxonomists have abandoned Protozoa as a high-level group, Thomas Cavalier-
Smith has retained it as a kingdom in the various classifications he has proposed. As of
2015, Cavalier-Smith's Protozoa excludes several major groups of organisms traditionally
placed among the protozoa, including the ciliates, dinoflagellates and foraminifera (all
members of the SAR supergroup). In its current form, his kingdom Protozoa is
a paraphyletic group which includes a common ancestor and most of its descendants, but
excludes two important clades that branch within it: the animals and fungi.[9]
Since the protozoa, as traditionally defined, can no longer be regarded as "primitive animals"
the terms "protists", "Protista" or "Protoctista" are sometimes preferred. In 2005, members of
the Society of Protozoologists voted to change its name to the International Society
of Protistologists.[22]
Characteristics[edit]
Size[edit]
Protozoa, as traditionally defined, range in size from as little as 1 micrometre to
several millimetres, or more.[23] Among the largest are the deep-sea–
dwelling xenophyophores, single-celled foraminifera whose shells can reach 20 cm in
diameter.[24]
The ciliate Spirostomum ambiguumcan attain 3 mm in length
Habitat[edit]
Free-living protozoans are common and often abundant in fresh, brackish and salt water, as
well as other moist environments, such as soils and mosses. Some species thrive in extreme
environments such as hot springs[35] and hypersaline lakes and lagoons.[36] All protozoa
require a moist habitat; however, some can survive for long periods of time in dry
environments, by forming resting cysts which enable them to remain dormant until conditions
improve.
Association between protozoan symbionts and their host organisms can be mutually
beneficial. Flagellated protozoans such as Trichonympha and Pyrsonympha inhabit the guts
of termites, where they enable their insect host to digest wood by helping to break down
complex sugars into smaller, more easily digested molecules.[37] A wide range of protozoans
live commensally in the rumens of ruminant animals, such as cattle and sheep. These
include flagellates, such as Trichomonas, and ciliated protozoa, such
asIsotricha and Entodinium.[38] The ciliate subclass Astomatia is composed entirely of
mouthless symbionts adapted for life in the guts of annelid worms.[39]
Feeding[edit]
All protozoans are heterotrophic, deriving nutrients from other organisms, either by ingesting
them whole or consuming their organic remains and waste-products. Some protozoans take
in food by phagocytosis, engulfing organic particles with pseudopodia (as amoebae do), or
taking in food through a specialized mouth-like aperture called acytostome. Others take in
food by osmotrophy, absorbing dissolved nutrients through their cell membranes.[citation needed]
Parasitic protozoans use a wide variety of feeding strategies, and some may change
methods of feeding in different phases of their life cycle. For instance, the malaria
parasite Plasmodium feeds by pinocytosis during its immature trophozoite stage of life (ring
phase), but develops a dedicated feeding organelle (cytostome) as it matures within a host's
red blood cell.[40]
Paramecium bursaria, a ciliate which derives some of its nutrients from algal endosymbionts in the
genusChlorella
Protozoa may also live as mixotrophs, supplementing a heterotrophic diet with some form
of autotrophy. Some protozoa form close associations with symbiotic photosynthetic algae,
which live and grow within the membranes of the larger cell and provide nutrients to the host.
Others practice kleptoplasty, stealing chloroplasts from prey organisms and maintaining
them within their own cell bodies as they continue to produce nutrients through
photosynthesis. The ciliate Mesodinium rubrum retains functioning plastids from the
cryptophyte algae on which it feeds, using them to nourish themselves by autotrophy. These,
in turn, may be passed along to dinoflagellates of the genus Dinophysis , which prey
on Mesodinium rubrum but keep the enslaved plastids for themselves. Within Dinophysis,
these plastids can continue to function for months.[41]
Motility[edit]
Organisms traditionally classified as protozoa are abundant in aqueous environments
andsoil, occupying a range of trophic levels. The group includes flagellates (which move with
the help of whip-like structures called flagella), ciliates (which move by using hair-like
structures called cilia) and amoebae (which move by the use of foot-like structures
calledpseudopodia). Some protozoa are sessile, and do not move at all.
Pellicle[edit]
Unlike plants, fungi and most types of algae, protozoans do not typically have a rigid cell
wall, but are usually enveloped by elastic structures of membranes that permit movement of
the cell. In some protozoans, such as the ciliates and euglenozoans, the cell is supported by
a composite membranous envelope called the "pellicle". The pellicle gives some shape to
the cell, especially during locomotion. Pellicles of protozoan organisms vary from flexible and
elastic to fairly rigid. In ciliates and Apicomplexa, the pellicle is supported by closely packed
vesicles called alveoli. In euglenids, it is formed from protein strips arranged spirally along
the length of the body. Familiar examples of protists with a pellicle are the euglenoids and
the ciliate Paramecium. In some protozoa, the pellicle hosts epibiotic bacteria that adhere to
the surface by their fimbriae (attachment pili).[42]
Some protozoa have two-phase life cycles, alternating between proliferative stages
(e.g.,trophozoites) and dormant cysts. As cysts, protozoa can survive harsh conditions, such
as exposure to extreme temperatures or harmful chemicals, or long periods without access
to nutrients, water, or oxygen for periods of time. Being a cyst enables parasitic species to
survive outside of a host, and allows their transmission from one host to another. When
protozoa are in the form of trophozoites (Greek tropho = to nourish), they actively feed. The
conversion of a trophozoite to cyst form is known as encystation, while the process of
transforming back into a trophozoite is known as excystation.
All protozoans reproduce (not all) asexually by binary fission or multiple fission. Many
protozoan species exchange genetic material by sexual means (typically,
throughconjugation); however, sexuality is generally decoupled from the process of
reproduction, and does not immediately result in increased population.[43]
Although meiotic sex is widespread among present day eukaryotes, it has, until recently,
been unclear whether or not eukaryotes were sexual early in their evolution. Due to recent
advances in gene detection and other techniques, evidence has been found for some form of
meiotic sex in an increasing number of protozoans of ancient lineage that diverged early in
eukaryotic evolution.[44] (See eukaryote reproduction.) Thus, such findings suggest that
meiotic sex arose early in eukaryotic evolution. Examples of protozoan meiotic sexuality are
described in the articles Amoebozoa, Giardia lamblia,Leishmania, Plasmodium falciparum
biology, Paramecium, Toxoplasma gondii, Trichomonas vaginalis and Trypanosoma brucei.
Classification[edit]
Further information: wikispecies:Protozoa
Historically, the Protozoa were classified as "unicellular animals", as distinct from the
Protophyta, single-celled photosynthetic organisms (algae) which were considered primitive
plants. Both groups were commonly given the rank of phylum, under the kingdom
Protista.[45] In older systems of classification, the phylum Protozoa was commonly divided into
several sub-groups, reflecting the means of locomotion.[46] Classification schemes differed,
but throughout much of the 20th century the major groups of Protozoa included:
With the emergence of molecular phylogenetics and tools enabling researchers to directly
compare the DNA of different organisms, it became evident that, of the main sub-groups of
Protozoa, only the ciliates (Ciliophora) formed a natural group, ormonophyletic clade (that is,
a distinct lineage of organisms sharing common ancestry). The other classes or subphyla of
Protozoa were all polyphyletic groups composed of organisms that, despite similarities of
appearance or way of life, were not necessarily closely related to one another. In the system
of eukaryote classification currently endorsed by the International Society of Protistologists,
members of the old phylum Protozoa have been distributed among a variety of
supergroups.[47]
Ecology[edit]
As components of the micro- and meiofauna, protozoa are an important food source
for microinvertebrates. Thus, the ecological role of protozoa in the transfer of bacterial and
algal production to successive trophic levels is important. As predators, they prey
upon unicellular or filamentous algae, bacteria, and microfungi. Protozoan species include
both herbivores and consumers in the decomposer link of the food chain. They also control
bacteria populations and biomass to some extent.
Disease[edit]
Trophozoites of the amoebic dysentery pathogen Entamoeba histolytica with ingested human red
blood cells (dark circles)
Main article: Protozoan infection