6 kingdoms of Life

• 1. Plants• 2. Animals• 3. Fungi• 4. Archaebacteria• 5. Eubacteria• 6. PROTISTA

Kingdom Protista

• FUNGUS-LIKE PROTISTS… The slime molds and water molds

• PLANT-LIKE PROTISTS……. The Algae

• ANIMAL LIKE PROTISTS…. The protozoa

SLIME MOLD… a fungus-like protist

Yellow slim mold… a colony of thousands of single celled amoeba like

Are you smarter than a slime mold?

More slime mold

Pretzel Slime Mold

Slime mold recreates rail-lines and interstate highways when grown on a map

Water Mold… a fungus-like protist

Water Mold… not a fungus… a protist

ANIMAL-LIKE PROTISTS ( Protozoans )

This amoeba is about to “eat” the algae cells. Amoebas are single celled “animal-like” protists

An amoeba has a EUKARYOTIC cell (cell with a nucleus and many organelles )

WHY is an Amoeba NOT a bacteria?

BACTERIA CELL• No nucleus• No mitochondria• No E.R.• No Golgi apparatus• No vacuoles

AMOEBA CELL• Has a nucleus• Has mitochondria• Has E.R.• Has Golgi apparatus• Has vacuoles

Death by Amoeba: Some twin cities youth lost their lives to an amoeba which infected their brain after

swimming in a certain lake

Amoeba reproducing asexually

A single Amoeba

Paramecia.. Animal like protists

Paramecia conjugating = trading DNA (similar to sexual reproduction )

Paramecia. 1 cell big, but notice the small hairs called “cilia” covering each cell

Paramecium dividing

PLANT-LIKE PROTISTS ( Algae )

Euglena. A single celled protist… half plant… half animal

Euglena with a single flagellum visible coming from the tip of each cell

Euglena with a red eyespot clearly visible. Chloroplasts are also clearly visible

Euglena… common in our lakes and ponds in Douglas County

KELP a plant-like protist. Kelp forests make rich habitat in oceans for many other creatures

Gas filled bladders on kelp help to float the “leaves” of this protist

Kelp forest. Kelp can grow 2 meters per day = 6 feet! Very important producer

Kelp attach to the ocean bottom with “holdfasts”

Sea urchins are animals which nibble through then holdfasts of kelp…sometimes setting the

kelp adrift

Sea urchins on Kelp

Spirogyra… a plant like protist. We call plant like protists… ALGAE

Spirogyra… common here in Alex. Not a plant! A plant-like protist. ( algae )

Spirogyra algae

Volvox… a colony of green algae cells common in Douglas County

Volvox. A plant like protists

Anabaena… a green alga

Anabaena… a plant like protist ( algae )

Water Net. A Green alga

?

Algae farms in the desert. Could these protists produce enough oil to power our

vehicles?

. Over 70% of earth’s oxygen is produced by algae. Thank you little green photosynthetic algae dudes !!

Bubbles of oxygen in the sunlight as photosynthesis happens

Single celled algae living inside of coral.= mutualism. The algae make food for the coral animal during photosynthesis. What if you

had algae living in your skin?

Green alga inside coral animals

Sponges. These are animals which are green because of an alga living inside.

Sloth fur is excellent algae habitit

Sloth with algae in fur

Red Tide. Caused by a plant-like protist with red pigment ( red alga )

The organism which causes red-tide… a red-alga which releases a nerve toxin

Red tide

Toxins released by the alga during a red tide can kill millions of fish

Red tides can also kill manatees

Diatoms. Plant like protists with a silica shell. Shell has many holes

A single diatom magnified hundreds of times

Diatoms shells are added to toothpaste, pool filters and road paint.

Close-up of a diatom shell showing the holes in the shell.

White cliffs of Dover… Dover England. The entire cliff is made of Diatom fossils

The anopheles mosquito.. Carries the protist which causes malaria.

Anopheles mosquito injecting plasmodium protozoans into human.

Bed nets help to prevent malaria