Kingdom Protista
Background Information (Questions)
Kingdom Protista is the most diverse kingdom of organisms, and it is made up of protists. Protists are usually unicellular, and they are all microscopic eukaryotic organisms that are not bacteria, not animals, not plants, and not fungi. Thus, they do not fit in any other kingdom; however, some scientists believe that they are the start of the evolution for early plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi.
This kingdom is so diverse because it is like the miscellaneous group that does not fit into any other kingdom. There are no certain characteristics that can define the whole species, and the kingdom is polyphyletic. This means that the members have came from two or more ancestral forms that are not common to all the members; therefore, there are many structural, functional, nutritional, and habitat diversities. Because of this, these organisms are classified as the plant-like, the fungus-like, and the animal-like, but these organizations usually do not qualify each protist. For example, the Euglena protist has chloroplast like a plant species, but it also swims with its flagella like an animal. Also, some organisms may be parasites, predators, or producers, some protists have rigid cell walls while others have flexible cell membranes, and some protists are locomotive while others are stationary.
Since Kingdom Protista is the miscellaneous group, some protists eat food while others photosynthesize. There are four major ways in which energy is obtained: photosynthetic autotrophs, chemosynthetic autotrophs, heterotroph by ingestion, and heterotrophs by absorption. The photosynthetic autotrophs use energy from the sun to make glucose. The chemosynthetic autotrophs are also photosynthetic, but they use energy from the breakdown of chemicals to make glucose. The heterotrophs that ingest consume food that is digested later on by enzymes, and the food's nutrients are released within the body. Heterotrophs that absorb eat by secreting digestive enzymes outsider of the body, and they absorb the nutrients alone into the body.
The process that is thought to be involved in the genesis of eukaryotes from prokaryotes is endosymbiosis. Endosymbiosis is the theory where eukaryotes derived from smaller prokaryotes that were engulfed into larger prokaryotes that would eventually allow the larger cell to become eukaryotic with organelles. This is present with mitochondria and chloroplast as they similarly relate to purple bacteria and photosynthetic bacteria: two prokaryotic cells. This process relates to protists because these organisms are eukaryotic. With this theory of evolution, the prokaryotes lived inside of other cells to form eukaryotes, and it is present with endosymbiotic gene transfer where the mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA eventually became part of the eukaryotic cell.
Most biologists currently working on eukaryotic relationships consider Kingdom Protista obsolete because it is polyphyletic with members that originated from multiple ancestral forms, not just one ancestry that is related to all of the kingdom's members. The three main lineages are the Archaezoa, Protista, and Chromista, but the other lineages in Kingdom Protista is the Archaezo, Euglenozoa, Alveolata, Stramenopila, Rodophilta, and Cholrophyta.
This kingdom is so diverse because it is like the miscellaneous group that does not fit into any other kingdom. There are no certain characteristics that can define the whole species, and the kingdom is polyphyletic. This means that the members have came from two or more ancestral forms that are not common to all the members; therefore, there are many structural, functional, nutritional, and habitat diversities. Because of this, these organisms are classified as the plant-like, the fungus-like, and the animal-like, but these organizations usually do not qualify each protist. For example, the Euglena protist has chloroplast like a plant species, but it also swims with its flagella like an animal. Also, some organisms may be parasites, predators, or producers, some protists have rigid cell walls while others have flexible cell membranes, and some protists are locomotive while others are stationary.
Since Kingdom Protista is the miscellaneous group, some protists eat food while others photosynthesize. There are four major ways in which energy is obtained: photosynthetic autotrophs, chemosynthetic autotrophs, heterotroph by ingestion, and heterotrophs by absorption. The photosynthetic autotrophs use energy from the sun to make glucose. The chemosynthetic autotrophs are also photosynthetic, but they use energy from the breakdown of chemicals to make glucose. The heterotrophs that ingest consume food that is digested later on by enzymes, and the food's nutrients are released within the body. Heterotrophs that absorb eat by secreting digestive enzymes outsider of the body, and they absorb the nutrients alone into the body.
The process that is thought to be involved in the genesis of eukaryotes from prokaryotes is endosymbiosis. Endosymbiosis is the theory where eukaryotes derived from smaller prokaryotes that were engulfed into larger prokaryotes that would eventually allow the larger cell to become eukaryotic with organelles. This is present with mitochondria and chloroplast as they similarly relate to purple bacteria and photosynthetic bacteria: two prokaryotic cells. This process relates to protists because these organisms are eukaryotic. With this theory of evolution, the prokaryotes lived inside of other cells to form eukaryotes, and it is present with endosymbiotic gene transfer where the mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA eventually became part of the eukaryotic cell.
Most biologists currently working on eukaryotic relationships consider Kingdom Protista obsolete because it is polyphyletic with members that originated from multiple ancestral forms, not just one ancestry that is related to all of the kingdom's members. The three main lineages are the Archaezoa, Protista, and Chromista, but the other lineages in Kingdom Protista is the Archaezo, Euglenozoa, Alveolata, Stramenopila, Rodophilta, and Cholrophyta.
Microscopic Specimens
This specimen is spirogyra.
This specimen is amoeba.
THis specimen is the paramecium.
This specimen is the euglena.
This specimen is a diatom.
Macroscopic Specimens
This specimen is Corallina sp. Lime weed red algae.
This specimen is the Fucus sp. Rockweed brown algae.
This specimen is the Chara sp. Stonewort green algae.