ProtozoaBy: Rukesh Chinthapatla & Udara Fernando

The amoeba is a very common type of protozoan

Trypanosoma is a flagellate type of protozoan and causes sleeping sickness

A flagellate protozoan. Can you see the flagella?

Facts about protozoa:• Are protists• Lives mostly as a heterotrophic organism; most eat bacteria or other protozoa, but a few can take in nutrients dissolved in water• Do well in wet environments• Though only a few percentage of protozoa are parasites, they cause some of the most harmful diseases• The four most groups are flagellates, amoebas, apicomplexans, and ciliates

RhizopodaCommonly called amoebasDoes not really possess a defined structure

although some do live inside a protein shellCharacterized by pseudopodia, or “fake

feet”Pseudopodia are used for movement as

well as capturing food; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6rnhiMxtKU

Include various organisms; from amoebas to slime molds

Found in freshwater and marine habitatsSince there is a lot of variety, reproduction

is varied; some reproduce by binary fission and some using spores

Rhizopoda can often be classified by the shape and structure of the pseudopods

A rhizopod, also known as an amoeba.

RadiolariansAre amoeboid protozoa Have detailed skeletons; with inner

(endoplasm) and outer (ectoplasm) parts

Skeletons are usually fused into one beautiful piece

Possess many pseudopodia that look like needles

Use their buoyancy in coasting ocean currents to move around

Reproduce both sexually and asexuallyHeliozoansVery similar to radiolariansSkeleton consists of glassy plates that

are not fused Circular amoeboid with pseudopods

around the body (appearing like a sun)Differ from radiolarians in that their

skeleton is not as complex

A radiolarian, with many pseudopodia at the bottom

Heliozoans have a similar appearance to the sun

Both radiolarians and heliozoans are referred to as actinopods, due to slender pseudopodia

AmoebaCommon type of protozoaDoesn’t really possess any definite shape and are

very flexible as a resultUses pseudopodia to move and eat;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pR7TNzJ_pA&feature=related

Live in freshwater and saltwater and can be parasites

Also have endoplasm and ectoplasm

Amoebas don’t have a definite structure

Paramecium Are a ciliate protozoa, using cilia for

movement and eating Are oval-like and possess slipper

shape Found in fresh water environments

(warm waters) Are covered in cilia, food travels along

cilia into the oral groove Have two types of nuclei; large

macronucleus and then 80 tiny diploid nuclei used in sexual reproduction

Paramecium are unicellular protists capable of both sexual and asexual (binary fission; more common) reproduction

Asexual reproduction occurs when the organism’s macronucleus elongates and splits

The complex sexual mixing of genes in paramecium happens during conjugation, the numerous tiny nuclei undergo meiosis in this process

Paramecium eat microorganisms such as algae, bacteria, and yeast

The structure of paramecium

Paramecium- Conjugation

ForaminiferansAlso have pseudopodia for movement, feeding, and shell

formationAre almost all marine, living in the sand or attached to

rocks and algae, or even present in planktonNamed for their porous shells made of calcium carbonateVery large animals, shells can grow up to 1 inch long

Notice the porous skeleton in this foraminifera

Foraminiferans

A foraminifera fossil, which are very useful and important in dating sedimentary rocks

•When the foraminiferans die, the shells drop to the bottom and the calcium carbonate forms calcareous ooze•The calcareous ooze has settled to the bottom of the sea forming much of the sediment found on the ocean floor, forming much of the sedimentary rocks in the earth. •Foraminiferans leave fossils that can be used to correlate the ages of sedimentary rocks!•Study of fossil foraminiferans has been extremely important in recognizing geological strata and for dating deposits•The oil industry relies heavily on these microfossils to find potential oil deposits