Invertebrate

Biology
By Jane Yawe
 Kingdom Protista
 The term Protista was first used by Ernst
Haeckel in the year 1886.
 This kingdom forms a link between other
kingdoms of plants, animals and fungi.
 Members of this kingdom are called
protists.
 Protists are simple eukaryotic organisms
This means that they have a membrane-
enclosed nucleus.
 Characteristics
 The primary feature of all protists is that they are eukaryotic
organisms.
 These are usually aquatic, present in the soil or in areas with moisture.

 Most protist species are unicellular organisms,

 Some few are multicellular e.g kelp.

 Just like any other eukaryotes, the cells of these species have a
nucleus and membrane-bound organelles.
 They may be autotrophic, saprophytic or heterotrophic in nature.
 An autotrophic organism can create their own food and survive.

 Saprophytic organisms feed on the dead and decaying matter e.g Slime moulds
 A heterotrophic organism, on the other hand, has to derive nutrition from other
organisms such as plants or animals to survive.
 Characteristics cont..
 Symbiosis is observed in the members of this class.
 For instance, kelp (seaweed) is a multicellular protist that provides
otters, protection from predators amidst its thick kelp. In turn, the otters
eat sea urchins that tend to feed on kelp.

 Parasitism is also observed in protists.

 Species such as Trypanosoma protozoa can cause sleeping sickness in
humans.

 Protists exhibit locomotion through cilia, pseudopodia

and flagella.
 Protista mainly reproduces by asexual means.
 The sexual method of reproduction is extremely rare and occurs only
during times of stress.
 Economic Importance

Protists serve as the foundation of the food chain.

Some protists produce oxygen and may be used to
produce biofuel.

Protists are the primary sources of food for many
animals.

Phytoplankton is a soutseof food fish and whales

Seaweed is an alga, which is considered a plant-like
protist.

Zooplankton is fed on by various aquatic organisms
 Classification
 Kingdom Protista are categorized into three
taxons: 
 Animal-like single-celled rganisms.  Protozoans 
 Plant-like single or multi-celled organisms.
Algae 

 Fungi like - Slime Moulds

Animal like Protists -Protozoa-
 Protozoa (from Greek words proton ="first" and
zoia "= animals"; singular protozoan) are animal like
microorganisms classified as unicellular eukaryotes
 Because many are animal-like, being motile and
having heterotrophic nutrition, this assemblage was
treated in the past as a single phylum within the
Animal Kingdom-the phylum Protozoa
 They are now placed within a number of different
eukaryotic unicellular phyla, which together with
most algal phyla constitute the kingdom Protista,
also called Protoctista
 Protozoa is now used as a convenient common
name for unicellular, motile protists
 In metazoans (multicellular organisms), specializations, are
distributed over cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems

 A single metazoan cell need only contribute an increment to the

overall adaptive organization of the individual

 As a result, metazoan cells are less complex but more specialized

for particular functions than protozoan cells
 Classification of the Protozoa
 Based on their ability and method of
movement, three major groups of protozoa are
recognized and often given the status of
phylum:
1. Phylum Sarcomastigophora
2. Phylum Apicomplexa
3. Phylum Ciliophora
 It should however be noted that, this
classification is not phylogenetic (i.e. reflecting
the course of evolution)
 Phylum Sarcomastigophora
The largest protozoan phylum and has the
following unifying characters:
o Unicellular or colonial
o Locomotion by flagella, pseudopodia or both
o Autotrophic (self-nourishing), saprozoic (living
in decaying organic matter), or heterotrophic
(obtains energy from organic compounds)
o Single type of nucleus
o Usually reproduce sexually. There is no spore
formation
 Phylum Sarcomastigophora contd:
 Phylum Sarcomastigophora is further divided
into two subphyla:
• Subphylum Mastigophora
• Subphylum Sarcodina

 Subphylum Mastigophora
 Members of this subphylum use flagella for locomotion
They may be autotrophic, heterotrophic, or both;
usually reproduce asexually by fission. Two classes
fall under this subphylum:
I. Class Phytomastigophorea
II. Class Zoomastigophorea
 Class Phytomastigophorea
Members in this class possess chlorophyll and one
or two flagella

 They produce a large portion of the food in

marine food webs

 Much of the oxygen used in aquatic habitats

comes from photosynthesis by these marine
organisms
 Dinoflagellates, Euglena and Volvox are typical
members of this class
 Class Zoomastigophorea
Members lack chloroplasts and are
heterotrophic
 Some members are important parasites of
humans
 Trypanosoma brucei is a zoomastigophorean
which is an important pathogen of human
beings that cause sleeping sickness
 This species is divided into three subspecies: T.
b. brucei, T.b. gambiense, and T.b. rhodesiense,
often referred to as the Trypanosoma brucei
complex
1. During a blood meal on the mammalian host, an infected tsetse fly injects
metacyclic trypomastigotes into skin tissue.  The parasites enter the
lymphatic system and pass into the bloodstream

2. Inside the host, they transform into bloodstream trypomastigotes

3. Trypomastigotes are carried to other sites throughout the body, reach other
blood fluids (e.g., lymph, spinal fluid), and continue the replication by binary
fission

4. The tsetse fly becomes infected with bloodstream trypomastigotes when

taking a blood meal on an infected mammalian host (5) 

6. In the fly’s midgut, the parasites transform into procyclic trypomastigotes,

multiply by binary fission

7. The procyclic trypomastigotes leave the midgut, and transform into

epimastigotes 

8. The epimastigotes reach the fly’s salivary glands and continue multiplication
by binary fission.

The cycle in the fly takes approximately 3 weeks.  Humans are the main reservoir
for Trypanosoma brucei gambiense, but this species can also be found in
animals.  Wild game animals are the main reservoir of T. b. rhodesiense.
 Subphylum Sarcodina
 Members of this subphylum are unified by the fact that when feeding and
moving, they form temporary cell extensions called pseudopodia (sing.,
pseudopodium) (from Greek words pseudes = "false" and podion = "little
foot")
 Pseudopodia exist in a variety of forms:
i. Lobopodia (sing., lobopodium) (from Greek word lobos =
"lobe") are broad cell processes containing ectoplasm and
endoplasm and are used for locomotion and engulfing food
ii. Filopodia (sing., filopodium) (from Latin word filum = "thread")
contain cytoplasm only and provide a constant two-way
streaming that delivers food in a conveyor-belt fashion
iii. Reticulopodia (sing., reticulopodium) (from Latin word
reticulatus = "net-like") are similar to filopodia, except that
they branch and rejoin to form a net-like series of cell
extensions
iv. Axopodia (sing., axopodium) (from Latin word axis = axle) are
thin, filamentous, and supported by a central axis of
microtubules
Subphylum Sarcodina contd:

Lobopodia Filopodia

Reticulopodia Axopodia
 Lobosea
The most familiar amoebae belong to the class
Lobosea and genus Amoeba
 Most amoebae in this class are naked (have no
test/shell) and are normally found on shallow
water substrates of freshwater ponds, lakes, and
slow moving streams, where they feed on other
protists and bacteria. They engulf food by
phagocytosis. In the process, food is incorporated
in the vacuoles
 Binary fission occurs when an amoeba reaches a
certain size. No sexual reproduction is known to
occur
 Some members possess a test or Lobosea contd:
shell
 Tests are protective structures that
the cytoplasm secretes. They may
be made of calcium carbonate
(calcareous), protein
(proteinaceous), silica (siliceous)
or chitin (chitinous)
 One or more openings in the test
allow pseudopodia to be extruded.
Arcella and Difflugia are examples
of freshwater shelled amoebae
 Free-living amoebae are particle
feeders, using their pseudopodia
to capture food; a few are
pathogenic
 Entamoeba histolytica can infect
human and live in the folds of the
intestinal wall, feeding on starch
and mucoid secretions causing
dysentery in humans
 Foraminiferans(forams)
 Are primarily marine amoebae
 They possess reticulopodia and
secrete a test that is primarily
calcium carbonate

 As they grow, they secrete new,

larger chambers that remain
attached to the older chamber,
making it look like snail shell

 The foram tests make up a large

component of marine sediments,
and their accumulation on the floor
of primeval oceans resulted in
limestone and chalk deposits
 Radiolarians

 Are planktonic marine and

freshwater amoebae

 They are relatively large;

some colonial forms may
reach several centimeters in
diameter

 They possess a test (usually

siliceous) of long, movable
spines and needles of a highly
sculptured and ornamental
lattice
 Heliozoans
 They are aquatic amoebae that are either planktonic or
live attached by a stalk to some substrate in both fresh
water and marine environments

 They are roughly spherical amoeboids with many stiff,

microtubule-supported projections axopods radiating
outward from the cell surface

 They are similar to radiolaria, but they are

distinguished from them by lacking central capsules
and other complex skeletal elements, although some
produce simple scales and spines
 Phylum Apicomplexa
 Members of this phylum are all
parasites.
 They are all non-motile
protozoans

 They are unique due to a

complex arrangement of
organelles at one end of the
cell
 They receive their name
because the apex of the cells of
certain life stages of these
parasites has intricate
(complex) structures that
enable these parasites to
penetrate the tissues of their
hosts
 Phylum Apicomplexa contd:
General characteristics of the phylum include:

i. All Apicomplexa are specialized parasites found

in most animal species. They possess apical
complex for penetrating host cells
ii.They have single type of nucleus
iii.They have no locomotion organs except in
certain reproductive stages
iv.They have complex life cycles often involving
multiple species hosts. Their life cycles include
typically asexual (schizogony, sporogony) and
sexual (gametogeny) phases
 Phylum Apicomplexa contd:
 The most important species in the phylum Apicomplexa are
members of the class Sporozoea

 The class name derives from most sporozoeans producing a

resistant spore or oocyst following sexual reproduction
 Sporozoans have no mouth and nutrition is osmotrophic
(nutrients are absorbed from immediate environment)
 Common sporozoans are the gregarines; parasitic in such
invertebrates as annelids, echinoderms and ascidians; and
coccidians, which are endoparasitic in both invertebrates and
vertebrates
 Typical examples of coccidians are Eimeria, which causes
coccidiosis in domestic rabbits and chickens, and Plasmodium,
which causes malaria in humans
 Generalized Life cycle of sporozoans
 Three phases are involved:
i. Schizogony: multiple fission in host
cells to form many more individuals
called merozoites, which leave the
host cell and infect many other cells.
ii. Gametogony: Some of the
merozoites form either
microgametocytes or
macrogametocytes. A microgamete
fertilizes a macrogamete to produce
a zygote that becomes enclosed and
is called an oocyst
iii. Sporogony: the zygote undergoes
meiosis, and the resulting cells divide
repeatedly by mitosis. The result is
many rodlike sporozoites in the
oocyst. The sporozoites infect the
cells of a new host after the new host
ingests and digest the oocyst, or
sporozoites are otherwise introduced
(e.g., by a mosquito bite).
 Plasmodium life cycle in humans
• The sporozoites leave the bloodstream and
penetrate into liver cells, where they undergo
schizogony (asexual cleavage multiplication) and
produce merozoites

• Merozoites released as a result of liver schizogony

enter red blood cells, where they become ameboid
trophozoites, feeding on haemoglobin

• A trophozoite within a red blood cell grows and

undergoes schizogony producing merozoites. The
host red blood cell ruptures, releasing the
merozoites as well as metabolic wastes that are
responsible in large part for the characteristic
symptoms of malaria. Many merozoites enter and
infect more red blood cells, with the cycle repeating
until an enormous number of host cells have
become parasitized

• After several such sexual generations, some of the

merozoites enter red blood cells to become sexual
forms called macrogametocytes and
microgametocytes. These may be picked up by a
feeding Anopheles female. The gametocytes mature
within the mosquito to gametes, and fertilization
occurs. The resulting zygote divides to produce
sporozoites, which migrate to the mosquito salivary
glands. When this mosquito bites another human,
the sporozoites will be injected along with saliva
into the blood of the human and the cycle begins
again
 Phylum Ciliophora
 Ciliophora (or Ciliates) represents a phylum of protozoa
characterized, in at least one stage of development, by
simple or compound ciliary organelles on the surface of
their membranes that are used for locomotion

 Cilia are used as locomotor or food-acquiring organelles.

The arrangement of cilia varies within the phylum and
some ciliates lack cilia as adults, although they are
present at other stages in their life cycles

 Cilia may cover evenly the entire outer surface of the

protozoan or they may join to form cirri, which are used
in movement. Alternatively, cilia may be lost from large
regions of a ciliate
 Phylum Ciliophora contd:
Each cilium terminates beneath the pellicle
in its kinetosome (basal body)
From each kinetosome, a fibril arises and
passes along beneath the row of cilia,
joining with the other fibrils of that row.
Structural system of fibres, in addition to
kinetosomes (basal bodies), makes up the
infraciliature, just beneath the pellicle
 Phylum Ciliophora contd:
The cilia, kinetosomes, and other fibrils of
that ciliary row make up what is called a
kinety

All ciliates have kinety system, even those

that lack cilia at some stage
This is a distinguishing characteristic of
ciliates
 Phylum Ciliophora contd:
 Ciliates have relatively rigid pellicle and more or less
fixed shape. They have distinct mouth structure and
they have dimorphic nuclei, typically a larger
macronucleus and one or more smaller micronuclei

 Macronucleus mediates the day-to-day functioning of

the cell including synthesis of RNA and DNA
 Micronucleus is involved primarily in DNA synthesis but
is also involved in the sexual processes (conjugation,
autogamy, cytogamy) undergone by ciliates
 Phylum Ciliophora contd:
Trichocysts are pellicular structures
primarily used for protection. They are
rodlike or oval organelles oriented
perpendicular to the plasma membrane
They are explosively expelled upon
mechanical or chemical stimulation
They function in defense against predators
 Phylum Ciliophora contd:
Ciliates possess typical mouth (or
cytostome), although it has been
secondarily lost in some groups
Many ciliates are filter feeder,
collecting organisms from ambient
currents or from currents produced by
the ciliate
Food may include bacteria and
detritus as well as other protozoa
 Reproduction in the ciliates
Asexual reproduction is by binary fission
Sexual reproduction occurs when two
ciliates of opposite mating types pair and
exchange genetic materials
Conjugal contact triggers meiosis in the
micronuclei resulting in 4 haploid
micronuclei. Concurrently, the
macronucleus breaks down and disappears
 Reproduction in the ciliates contd:
Each of the conjugating organisms donates a
micronucleus (gametic or male) to its mate via a
cytoplasmic bridge that connects them. The
gametic micronucleus fuses with the stationary
(or female) micronucleus forming the diploid
zygotic micronucleus

The conjugating pair separates and the zygotic

nucluei undergo another round of division. One
of these micronuclei develops into the
macronucleus, thus completing the cycle
 Suctorian ciliates
 Suctorians are ciliates which do not at first sight
resemble the usual ciliates, but they are classified
amongst them as they have ciliated larvae, and also have
the nuclear dualism characteristic of the other ciliates
 The adult forms have no cilia, but possess long hollow
contractile tentacles through which they suck the
contents of the prey organism. The tentacle secretions
paralyze the prey and digest an opening in the pellicle of
the prey
 Prey cytoplasm is then drawn into the suctorian through
tiny channels in the tentacle
 Suctorians live attached to their substrate
 Vorticella are sessile ciliates as adults
 However, young Vorticella are free-
swimming
 Adult forms attach to substrates with
contractile stalks.
 Adults can also be free-swimming if these
stalks are cut
 They can also detach themselves if food
supplies are scarce and they need to find a
new location
 Vorticella are referred to as Peritrichs,
meaning that their cilia are concentrated
around the mouth end of the organism, but
nowhere else on the body
 In the event that Vorticella becomes
motile, temporary cilia will form around
the body. However, once the organism has
anchored itself, these cilia will disappear.
Vorticella are heterotrophic organsims
preying on bacteria
 Stentor is a free living heterotrich Stentor
ciliate, with an elongated
multilobed macronucleus and
several micronuclei

 They are referred to as heterotrichs

because they have different cilial
structures on different parts of
their bodies

 Stentor usually attaches to

substrates and form a trumpet
shape. With many myonemes, it
can contract into a ball.  It may
swim freely both extended and
contracted

 Stentor are omnivorous

heterotrophs. Typically, they feed
on bacteria or other protozoans
 Symbiotic Ciliates
 Most ciliates are free living; however some are commensalistic or
mutualistic, and a few are parasitic. Balantidium coli is the largest
protozoan and the only ciliate known to parasitize humans

 Balantidium coli most commonly infects humans, other primates,

and pigs leading to a disease called Balantidiasis. Infection is likely
to occur where humans live closely with swine and where water
sanitation is poor or non-existent

 Balantidium coli cysts are released in the feces of infected hosts.

Consequently, Balantidium coli is transmitted by a fecal-oral
route: humans are infected by ingestion of water or food
contaminated by feces containing the protozoa

 Large numbers of different species of ciliates also inhabit the

rumen of many ungulates. These ciliates aid in the digestive
process of their hosts
 Economic importance
 Read and make notes about the economic
importance of protozoans
 The End

Th42ank you for your attention