Protists essays

Protists essays Protists are plant-like, animallike, or fungi-like organisms with one or more cells (single or multicelluar organisms). Asexual reproduction is common. It occurs by mitosis or binary fission in most species. Sexual reproduction is less common and has not been seen in many protists. Protists get food and energy one of two ways. They get their food (energy) either by using photosynthesis (called Autotrophic) or eating other protists or bacteria (called Heterotrophic). Protists are always found in damp or wet areas. They are found almost everywhere that has water. Some protists are attached to rocks and others drift on the surface of the water. The ones that float freely are called plankton. Some live in body fluids, tissues or cells of hosts. Phytoplankton are the bottom of the food chain in most fresh and sea water. Throughout the world they are responsible for 50% of organic matter. There are 3 types of protists: algae, protozoa, and slime molds. Most algae make their food using photosynthesis, which uses chlorophyll and sunlight like plants. Slime molds are something like fungi and something like animals. There are three types of slime molds, but only one is a protist. The kind that is a protest is called cellular slime mold. The word protozoa come from the Greek for little animal. They sometimes live and form colonies. Protozoa get their food by hunting other microbes. They mainly eat bacteria, but some also eat other protozoa and bits of tissue from other living things, which is called organic matter and sometimes fungi. Asexual reproduction for protozoa includes binary fission and mitosis. Some reproduce sexually during a time of their life cycle. Most protists can move. They are called Motile if the can move. There are 3 different ways protists can move: with cilia, which are hair like structures; with flagellates, which are whip like structures; and using amoeboid motion, which ...