Lab Report
Lab Report
0 INTRODUCTION
Objectives on doing this experiment is to describe the characteristics of
protistan, to identify and classify the organisms and to identify the structures in
the organism studied.
Protists constitute one of the five kingdoms in Whittaker's system of
classification (1969), namely procaryots, protists, plants, fungi and animals.
They used to be subdivided depending on their mode of nutrition into protozoa,
which belonged to the animal kingdom, and protophyta, which belonged to the
plant kingdom. However, protists of some kinds, especially among the flagellata,
can be either autotrophic or heterotrophic. In addition, mycologists have claimed
that they have identified a further group, the myxomycetes, which are
characterised by their strange pedunculate aerial fructifications several
millimetres long. However, the fact that their cycle includes a long amoeboid
phase means that they should be classified as protists and given the name
mycetozoa. On the other hand, protophytes overlap somewhat with some
colonial forms of algae, with which no very clear-cut distinctions can be made:
the protist kingdom therefore merges partly with the plant kingdom. One feature
common to all protists is their unicellular structure. Most of them live in aquatic
habitats, and some of them are parasites. Protists are thought to include more
than 30 000 species. Systematic descriptions of their morphological features
differ considerably from one author to another. They include several clearly
distinguishable branches.
2.0 MATERIALS
2.1 Compound microscope
2.2 Prepared slide of :
2.2.1
2.2.2
2.2.3
2.2.4
2.2.5
2.2.6
2.2.7
2.2.8
2.2.9
2.2.10
2.2.11
Spirogyra Vegetative
Chlamydomonas
Lichen, ascocarp
Marhantia gemmae
Diatoms, mixed
Amoeba proteus
Plasmodium volvox
Trypanamosa gambiense
Euglena cyst
Euglena
Penicillium conidia
3.0 PROCEDURES
3.1 Prepared slide examined with the dry objectives
3.2 All organisms specific structures identified
3.3 Macroscopic appearance of the organisms draw and labelled.
4.0 RESULTS
Spirogyra Vegetative
Chlamydomonas
magnification of 10 x 100
Lichen, ascocarp
magnification of 10 100
Marhantia gemmae
magnification of 10 100
Diatoms, mixed
magnification of 40 100
Amoeba proteus
magnification of 100 x 100
Trypanamosa gambiens
magnification of 10 100
Plasmodium volvox
magnification of 100 x 100
Euglena cysts
Euglena
magnification of 100 x 100
Marhantia gemmae
Penicillium conidia
magnification of 10 100
magnification of 40 100
5.0 DISCUSSION
6.0 POST LAB QUESTIONS
6.1 What features distinguish slime molds and water molds from fungi?
Slime molds are known as the fungal-like protists. They can move and lack of
chitin in their cell wall which helps define true fungi. Besides, protists have a
motile life stage while fungi do not (Robert Fogel, Ivins and Patricia Rogers,
2006).
anchoring structures called holdfasts, while plants have actual stems and roots.
Many of these protists release their eggs into the environment where the sperm
will fertilize the egg. Plants on the other hand will retain the egg in the "parent"
plant where it will fertilize. Some examples of plant-like protists are:
Euglenoids, Dinoflagellates, Chrysophytes, Green Algae, Red Algae, and Brown
Algae.
Fungus-like protists are heterotrophic, they cannot make their own food, and
thus they must be able to move at some point in their lives. These protists
contain long hyphea-like strands thus they contain the physical appearance of
fungi. The differences lies in that the hyphea of fungi are white while the hyphae
of protist are usually bright in colour. The fungus-like protists can act as
decomposers. They break down dead organisms by releasing digestive enzymes
into the dead organism. In the end materials useful to other living organisms are
released into the surrounding environment. Examples of fungus-like protists are
water molds and slime molds.
into the cytoplasm. The remaining undigested material is moved to the surface of
the cell and thrown out.
7.0 CONCLUSION
8.0 REFERENCES
Chytridiomycota.
Retrieved
on
10th
February
2013
from
http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Chytridiomycota
Oomycota.
Retrieved
on
10th
February
2013
from
http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Oomycota
Phyla Sporozoa and ciliophora. Retrieved on 10 th February 2013 from
http://library.thinkquest.org/27819/ch7_8.shtml
Phyla Mastighophora and sarcodina. Retrieved on 10th February 2013 from
http://library.thinkquest.org/27819/ch7_7.shtml
Zygomycota.
Retrieved
on
10th
February
http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Zygomycota
2013
from
9.0 APPENDICES
10 x 100 magnification of
Lichen ascocrap
10 x 100 magnification of
Marhantia gemmae
40 x 100 magnification of
Penicillium conidia
10 x 100 magnification of
Spirogyra vegetative
10 x 100 magnification of
Trypanosoma gambiense