Kingdom Protista

Wednesday, May 11, 2022

What does this giant kelp, a single celled euglena, slime mold, and paramecium all have in common?


kingdom protista

They would all be found in kingdom Protista.

Protists are an interesting kingdom of life. You may have heard that kingdom Protista is the junk drawer kingdom. Kinda like the draw at home that you have a little bit of everything in it.

Let me help explain why?

You will find single cell organisms like diatoms.

multicellular organisms that practice photosynthesis like sea lettuce, and single celled organisms like paramecium.


If you have an eukaryotic organism and it is not a plant,animal, or fungi, it is classified as a protist.

All protists have the following common characteristics.

They are eukaryotic which means that genetic material is found inside a nucleus and they contain membrane bound organelles.


protists


Most prefer an aquatic or moist location.


Probably the easiest way to think of protists is a eukaryotic organism that lacks the structures to be classified as a plant,animal, or fungi.


This kingdom is so diverse that Scientists group protists as plant like such as algae, animal like such paramecium , and fungi like like this slime mold.


I would like to review two characteristics to help you get an understanding of the diversity of this kingdom

Movement


Some protists like ciliates move by tiny hairs called cilia.

Paramecium move this way.


paramecium


Other protists move by oozing along.

They move using a pseudopod.

For example an amoeba moves this way.


amoeba


Euglenna are protists that move using a flagellum.

Some protists don’t move like kelp and diatoms just float along.


Reproduction


Some protists reproduce asexually.

Amoeba, algae and many more use binary fission to reproduce.

Slime molds reproduce using spores which is a type of asexual reproduction.

Arcella reproduce by budding which is a type of asexual reproduction.


Some protists reproduce both sexually and asexually.

A paramecium is an example.


In summary, if you have an organism with a nucleus and it is not a plant,anmal, or fungi, then you have a protist.





Plant Kingdom

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