Protozoans Flashcards
Protozoan general morphology
•bound by cell membrane
•cytoskeleton forms pellicle (cell wall almost, but depends on whether they are flexible or rigid - not al have it)
•some have a test - hardened outer structure
-secreted by organism
Movement
- flagella propel organisms in undulatory wave
- cilia - similar to flagella but move and act in a different way - beat in metachronal waves
- pseudopodia - temporary extensions of body, by changes of viscosity in cytoplasm
Acquisition of food and oxygen
- pinocytosis - unspecific engulfing of things
- receptor mediated endocytosis (engulf into vesicle if recognise)
- phagocytosis - large food particles (simple process)
- O2 taken up by diffusion on cell surface
Reproduction
- Some simple and only haploid - undergo fission = asexual
- Sexual reproduction and mainly haploid = produce gametes which join and form zygote, then split by meisosi
- Diploid cycle - meiosis produces gametes, fuse and form dilploid zygote then develops to adult
- Alteration of generations - halpodiploid cycle
Amboeboid
- asexual reproduction by fission or sexual
- moves by pseudopodia, lobopodia (tube-like) or filopodia (more pointy)
- free-living forms - amoeba
Spore-forming or Apicomplexans
•compacted sexual and asexual stages - often take place in different organisms
•uses other organisms for movement - parasitic and spread in infectious cells - sporozoites
•e.g. Plasodium
-halciparum worst form
Plasmodium
- Contains sporozoites in salivary glands of mosquito so transfers when bites human
- Go to liver cells - undergo multiple divisions and form merozoites
- Merozoites infect RBCs - asexual divisions - break out and infect other RBCs
- Eventually merozoites develop gametocytes
- Mosquito bites infected human - takes up gametocytes
- 3 gametes develop from these
- Fertilisation in mosquito gut - short diploid
- Oocyst from zygote and sporozoites develop in oocyst and migrate to salivary gland - REPEAT
Flagellates
- flagella for movement
- have both asexual and sexual reproduction - poorly understand though
- free-living (found in roaches gut for breaking down cellulose)
- parasitic Trypanosoma (sleeping sickness)
Trypanosoma
• kinetoplast were mass of DNa is found in mitochondria
•variant surface glycoprotein (VSG)
•extra-cellular parasite transmitted by tsetse fly
Human involving form - makes way into brain via cerebrospinal fluid if not treated = death in 2-3yrs
Game form - if in human, death = 6 weeks
Ciliates
- asexual reproduction - macronucleus, nucleus divides and produces more
- reproduces by conjugation by micronucleus - no new individual just genetic exchange
- cilia beat in metachronal waves
- free-living Paramecium
- attached ciliate - Stentor
- few parasites effect humans