UNIT VI: EUKARYOTIC

ORIGINS, PROTISTS, AND

FUNGI
ALPON, BARON, BRITAÑA, MULAVIN, VARGAS
 introduction
The evolution of aerobic prokaryotes led to the
emergence of the first eukaryotes. It is now
believed that eukaryotes are a product of the
process called endosymbiosis, whereby one of
prokaryotic cells engulfs another.

CHAPTER 11
EUKARYOTIC
ORIGINS
 EUKARYOTIC ORIGINS
Photosynthetic prokaryotes evolved 3.5 billion years ago, allowing
them to synthesize organic materials from carbon dioxide and an
electron source. Over millions of years, photosynthetic bacteria
progressively saturated Earth's water with oxygen, oxygenating the
atmosphere. Older anaerobic prokaryotes could nor function in their
new, aerobic environment.
 EUKARYOTIC ORIGINS
Some species perished, while other survived in the remaining
anaerobic environments left of Earth. Still other early prokaryotes,
evolved mechanisms, such as aerobic respiration, to exploit the
oxygenated atmosphere by using oxygen to store energy contained
within organic molecules. Aerobic respiration, a more efficient way of
obtaining energy from organic molecules, contributed to the success
and proliferation of these species. The evolution of aerobic prokaryotes
was an important step toward the evolution of the first eukaryote.
EUKARYOTIC ORIGINS

a. b.
 Lesson 1:
endosymbiosis
 Lesson 1:
endosymbiosis
The origin of eukaryotic cells was largely a mystery until a
revolutionary hypothesis was comprehensively examined in the
1960's by Lynn Margulis. The endosymbiotic theory states that
eukaryotes are a product of one prokaryotic cell engulfing another,
one living within another, and evolving together over time. This
hypothesis is now widely accepted and much remains to be clarified
about how this relationship occurred. Several endosymbiotic events
likely contributed to the origin of the eukaryotic cell.
ENDOSYMBIOSIS
Nuclear eukaryotic genes
and molecular machinery
are closely related to
Archaea, while metabolic
organelles and energy-
harvesting genes originated
in bacteria
01 MITOCHONDRIA
Evidence suggests that mitochondria are derived from an
endosymbiotic event, where an ancestral cell engulfed and kept
alive an aerobic prokaryote. Mitochondria are shaped like a
specific group of bacteria and are surrounded by two

02 CHLOROPLAST
membranes. Eukaryotic cells may contain anywhere from one to
several thousand mitochondria, and each mitochondrion
measures one to ten micrometers in length. Mitochondria divide
on their own by binary fission, have their own circular DNA
chromosome, and have special ribosomes and transfer RNAs. Chloroplasts are a group of related organelles in plant
These features all support that mitochondria were once free- cells that are involved in the storage of starches, fats,
living prokaryotes. proteins, and pigments. Genetic and morphological
studies suggest that plastids evolved from the
endosymbiosis of an ancestral cell that engulfed a
photosynthetic cyanobacterium. Plastids are similar in
size and shape to cyanobacteria and contain circular
genomes and divide by a process reminiscent of
prokaryotic cell division. Red and green algae exhibit DNA
sequences that are closely related to photosynthetic
cyanobacteria, suggesting they are direct descendants of
this endosymbiotic event.
SECONDARY ENDOSYMBIOSIS
IN CHLORARACHNIOPHYTES
SECONDARY ENDOSYMBIOSIS
IN CHLORARACHNIOPHYTES
Endosymbiosis involves one cell engulfing another to produce a
coevolved relationship. Chlorarachniophyte protists are thought to have
originated when a eukaryote engulfed a green alga, which had already
established an endosymbiotic relationship with a photosynthetic
cyanobacterium. Molecular and morphological evidence suggests that
chlorarachniophytes evolved from secondary endosymbiosis.

The plastids of chlorarachniophytes are surrounded by four membranes:

the inner and outer membranes of the photosynthetic cyanobacterium, the
green alga, and the vacuole that surrounded the alga when it was engulfed
by the chlorarachniophyte ancestor. Secondary endosymbiosis of green
algae also led to euglenid protists, while secondary endosymbiosis of red
algae led to the evolution of dinof
SECONDARY ENDOSYMBIOSIS
IN CHLORARACHNIOPHYTES
CHAPTER 12
PROTISTS
 Lesson 1:
Characteristics
of protist
 introduction
Eukaryotic organism that did not fit the criteria for the kingdom,
Animalia , Fungi, or Plantae historically were called protist and
were classified into the kingdom Protista. As a collective group,
protists display an astounding diversity of morphologies,
physiologies, and ecologies.

EUKARYOTIC ORIGINS
 HOW PROTIST
OBTAIN ENERGY

Protists exhibit many forms of nutrition and may be aerobic or

anaerobic. Photosynthetic protists (photoautotrophs) are
characterized by the presence of chloroplasts. Other protists
are heterotrophs and consume organic materials (such as
other organisms) to obtain nutrition.

Food vacuole is the vesicle that fuses with a lysosome containing

hydrolytic enzymes to produce a phagolysosome, then food particle is
broken down into small molecules that can diffuse into the cytoplasm and
be used in cellular metabolism. Undigested remains ultimately are
expelled from the cell through exocytosis.

 HOW PROTIST
OBTAIN ENERGY

REPRODUCTION OF
PROTIST
Protists reproduce by a varicty of mechanisms.
Most are capable some form of asexual reproduction
binary fission to divide simultaneously to produce
two daughter cells, others produce tiny buds that go
to divide and grow to the size of the parental protist.
Another common thing is sexual reproduction,
involving meiosis and fertilization. Many protist
species can switch from asexual to sexual
reproduction when necessary.

REPRODUCTION OF
PROTIST
 Lesson 2:
protist diversity
 introduction
With the advent of DNA sequencing, the relationships
among protist groups and between protist groups
and other eukaryotes beginning to become clearer.
Protists that exhibit similar morphological features
may have evolved analogous structures because of
similar selective pressures rather than because of
recent common ancestry. This phenomenon called
convergent evolution.

Supergroup
Excavata
Supergroup Excavata are asymmetrical,
single-celled organisms with a feeding
groove "excavated" from one side. This
supergroup includes heterotrophic
predators, photosynthetic species, and
parasites.
 SUBGROUP
DIPLOMONADS
Diplomonads lack mitochondria and possess
only non-functional mitochondria remnant
organelles called mitosomes. It exist in
anaerobic environments and use alternative
pathways, such as glycolysis, to generate
energy. Each diplomonad cell has two
identical nuclei and uses several flagella for
This is represented by the mammalian
locomotion. intestinal parasite, Giardia lamblia that is
visualized using scanning electron
microscopy, it a waterbome protist that
causes severe diarrhea when ingested.
 SUBGROUP
PARABASALIDS
Parabasalids also exhibit semi-functional
mitochondria. These structures function
anaerobically and are called hydrogenosomes
because they produce hydrogen gas as a
byproduct. They move with flagella and
membrane rippling.
This is represented by Trichomonas vaginalis, a
parabasalid that causes the sexually transmitted
disease Trichomoniasis in humans.
 SUBGROUP
EUGLENOZOANS

Euglenozoans includes parasites, heterotrophs,

autotrophs, and mixotrophs. They move through
their aquatic habitats using two long flagella that
guide them toward light sources sensed by a
primitive ocular organ called an eyespot.
Euglena encompasses some mixotrophic species
that display a photosynthetic capability only
when light is present. In the dark, the
chloroplasts of Euglena shrink up and
temporarily cease functioning, and the cells
instead take up organic nutrients from their
environment.
 SUBGROUP
KINETOPLASTID
Another subgroup of Euglenozoa is the kinetoplastid,
named after the kinetoplast, a DNA mass carried
within the single, oversized mitochondrion possessed
by each of these cells.
Trypanosomes includes in this which cause
devastating human diseases and infect an insect
species during a portion of their life cycle the human
parasite.
 SUBGROUP
KINETOPLASTID
Trypanosoma brucei develops in the gut
of the tsetse fly after the fly bites an
infected human or other mammalian host.
The parasite then travel to the insect
salivary glands to be transmitted to
another human or other mammal when
the infected tsetse fly consumes another
blood meal. T. brucei is the causative agent
of African sleeping sickness, a disease
associated with severe chronic fatigue,
coma, and can be fatal if left untreated.
 Supergroup
Chromalveolata
Chromalveolates are derived from a common ancestor that engulfed
a photosynthetic red algal cell, which itself had already evolved
chloroplasts from an endosymbiotic relationship with a
photosynthetic prokaryote. The ancestor of chromalveolates is
believed to have resulted from a secondary endosymbiotic event.

Some chromalveolates appear to have lost red alga-derived plastid

organelles or lack plastid genes altogether. Chromalveolates include
very important photosynthetic organisms, such as diatoms, brown
algae, and significant disease agents in animals and plants. The
chromalveolates can be subdivided into alveolates and
stramenopiles.

 SUBGROUP
ALVEOLATES
Alveolates are named for the presence of an
alveolus, or membrane-enclosed sac beneath the
cell membrane, thought to be involved in
osmoregulation. The alveolates are further
categorized into some of the better-known protists:
the dinoflagellates, the apicomplexans, and the
ciliates.
 DINOFLAGELLATES
Dinoflagellates exhibit extensive morphological
diversity and can be photosynthetic,
heterotrophic, or mixotrophic. Many
dinoflagellates are encased in interlocking
plates of cellulose. They have a characteristic
spinning motion. Two perpendicular flagella fit
into the grooves between the cellulose plates,
with one flagellum extending longitudinally and
a second encircling the dinoflagellate.
APICOMPLEXIANS

Apicomplexan protists are so named because their

microtubules, fibrin, and vacuoles are
asymmetrically distributed at one end of the cell in a
structure called an apical complex. Apicomplexians
are parasitic protists. They have a characteristic
apical complex that enables them to infect host cells.
 APICOMPLEXIANS

Plasmodium, the causative

agent of malaria, has a
complex life cycle typical of
apicomplexians.
 CILIATES
The ciliates, which include Paramecium, are a group
of protists 10 to 3000 micrometers in length that
are covered in rows, tufts, or spirals of tiny cilia. By
beating their cilia synchronously or in waves, ciliates
can coordinate directed movements and ingest food
particles.
Paramecium has a primitive mouth (called an oral
groove) to ingest food, and an anal pore to excrete
it. Contractile vacuoles allow the organism to
excrete excess water, Cilia enable the organism to
move.
 SUBGROUP
STRAMENOPILES
Stramenopiles, the other subgroup of
chromalveolates, includes feature of this
group is the presence of a textured, or
"hairy, flagellum". Many stramenopiles also
have an additional flagellum that lacks
hair- like projections. Members of this
subgroup range in size from single-celled
diatoms to the massive and multicellular
kelp.
 DIATOMS
The diatoms are unicellular photosynthetic
protists that encase themselves in intricately
patterned, glassy cell walls composed of
silicon dioxide in a matrix of organic particles.
Most species of diatoms reproduce asexually,
although some instances of sexual
reproduction and sporulation also exist. Some
diatoms exhibit a slit in their silica shell. called
a raphe.
 BROWN ALGAE
Brown algae are primarily marine, multicellular organisms that
are commonly known as seaweeds. Giant kelps are a type of
brown algae. Some brown algae have evolved specialized
tissues that resemble terrestrial plants, with root-like holdfasts,
stem-like stipes, and leaf-like blades that are capable of
photosynthesis.
LAMINARIA
LIFE CYCLE
Supergroup
Rhizaria
The Rhizaria supergroup includes many of the amoebas, most of which have
thread-like or needle-like pseudopodia. Pseudopodia functions to trap and
engulf food particles and to direct movement in rhizarian protists.

The protist then transports its cytoplasm into the pseudopod, thereby
moving the entire cell. This type of motion, called cytoplasmic streaming, is
used by several diverse groups of protists as a means of locomotion or as a
method to distribute nutrients and oxygen.

SUBGROUP FORAMINIFERANS
Foraminiferans or forams are
unicellular heterotrophic protists,
ranging from 20 micrometers to several
centimeters in length, with porous
shells called tests. They can harvest
photosynthetic algae for nutrition and
are useful as indicators of pollution and
global weather patterns.
 SUBGROUP Radiolarians
The radiolarians, exhibit intricate exteriors of
glassy silica with radial or bilateral symmetry.
Needle-like pseudopods supported by
microtubules radiate outward from the cell
bodies of these protists and function to catch
food particles. The shells of dead radiolarians
sink to the ocean floor, where they may
accumulate in 100 meter-thick depths.
Preserved, sedimented radiolarians are very
common in the fossil record.
 Supergroup
archaeplastida
 Red algae and green algae are included in the supergroup
Archaeplastida. It was from a common ancestor of these protists that
the land plants evolved, since their closest relatives are found in this
group.

Molecular evidence supports that all Archaeplastida are descendents of

an endosymbiotic relationship between a heterotrophic protist and a
cyanobacterium. The red and green algae include unicellular,
multicellular, and colonial forms.

 Red algae
Red algae or rhodophytes are multicellular,
lack flagella, and range in size from
microscopic protists to large multicellular
forms. They have an alternation of
generations and contain phycoerythrins,
photosynthetic accessory pigments that are
red in color. They are common in tropical
waters and terrestrial or freshwater
environments.
 Green algae
The most abundant group of algae is the
green algae. The green algae exhibit similar
features to the land plants, particularly in
terms of chloroplast structure. That this
group of protists shared a relatively recent
common ancestor with land plants is well
supported. The green algae are subdivided
into the chlorophytes and the charophytes.
CHLOROPHYTES
01 CHLAMYDOMONAS
Chlamydomonas is a simple, unicel lular chlorophyte

02 VOLVOX
with a pear-shaped morphology and two opposing,
anterior flagella that guide this protist toward light
sensed by its eyespot.
The chlorophyte Volvox is one of only a few
examples of a colonial organism, which behaves in
some ways like a collection of individual cells, but
in other ways like the specialized cells of a
multicellular organism. Volvox colonies contain
500 to 60,000 cells, cach with two flagella,
contained within a hollow, spherical matrix
composed of a gelatinous glycoprotein secretion.
CHLOROPHYTES
03 CAULERPA SPECIES
Species in the genus Caulerpa exhibit flattened fern-
like foliage and can reach lengths of three meters.
Caulerpa species undergo nuclear division, but their
cells do not complete cytokinesis, remaining instead as
massive and elaborate single cells. Caulerpa taxifolia is a

04 ULVA
chlorophyte consisting of a single cell containing
potentially thousands of nuclei.

Sea lettuce, Ulva, are true multicellular organisms.

They are represented among the charophytes.
CHLOROPHYTES

01. 02. 03. 04.

CHAROPHYTES
Charophytes, commonly known as brittleworts, are
the closest living relatives to land plants and
resemble them in morphology and reproductive
strategies. Charophytes are common in wet habitats,
and their presence often signals a healthy
ecosystem.
Supergroup
amoebozoa
 The amoebozoans characteristically exhibit
pseudopodia that extend like tubes or flat
lobes, rather than the hair-like pseudopodia
of rhizarian amoeba. The Amoebozoa include
several groups of unicellular amoeba-like
organisms that are free-living or parasites.

 SLIME MOLDS
A subset of the amoebozoans, the slime molds, has several
morphological similarities to fungi that are thought to be the
result of convergent evolution. For instance, during times of
stress, some slime molds develop into spore-generating
fruiting bodies, much like fungi. The slime molds are
categorized on the basis of their life cycles into or plasmodial
or cellular types.
01 PLASMODIAL SLIME MOLD
02 CELLULAR SLIME MOLD
 Supergroup
Opisthokonta
CHOANOFLAGELLATES
The Opisthokonta include the animal-like
choanoflagellates, which are believed to
resemble the common ancestor of sponges and,
in fact, all animals (Figure 12.28). These
organisms exhibit a single, apical flagellum that
is surrounded by a contractile collar composed
of microvilli. The collar uses a similar
mechanism to sponges to filter out bacteria for
ingestion by the protist. The morphology of
choanoflagellates was recognized early on as
resembling the collar cells of sponges, and
suggesting a possible relationship to animals.
LESSON 3: ECOLOGY
OF PROTISTS
 introduction
Protists function in various ecological niches. Whereas
some protist species are essential components of the
food chain and generators of biomass, others function in
the decomposition of organic materials.
PATHOGENIC PROTISTS
Many protists are pathogenic parasites that must
infect other organisms to survive and propagate.
Protist parasites include causative agents of
malaria, sexually trans mitted diseases such as
trichomoniasis, and waterborne gastroenteritis in
humans.
PLASMODIUM SPECIES
Members of the genus Plasmodium must infect a
mosquito and a vertebrate to complete their life
cycle. In vertebrates, the parasite develops in liver
cells and goes on to infect red blood cells, bursting
from and destroying the blood cells with each
asexual replication cycle.
TRYPANOSOMA SPECIES
Trypanosoma brucei, the parasite that
is responsible for African sleeping
sickness, confounds the human
immune system by changing its thick
layer of surface glycoproteins with
each infectious cycle. The
glycoproteins are identified by the
immune system as foreign matter, and
a specific antibody defense is mounted
against the parasite.
 RED TIDE
For approximately 20 species of
marine dinoflagellates, population
explosions (also called blooms) during
the summer months can tint the ocean
with a muddy red color. This
phenomenon is called a red tide, and it
results from the abundant red
pigments present in dinoflagellate
plastids. Red tides can be massively
detrimental to commercial fisheries,
and humans who consume these
protists may become poisoned.
 PLANT PARASITES
Protist parasites of terrestrial plants include agents that
destroy food crops. The oomycete Plasmopara viticola
parasitizes grape plants, causing discase called downy mildew.

Photophthora infestans is an oomycete responsible for potato

late blight, which causes potato stalks and stems to decay into
black slime. Widespread potato blight caused by P. infestans
precipitated the well-known Irish potato famine in the
nineteenth century that claimed the lives of approximately one
million people and led to the emigration from Ireland of at least
one million more.
 BENEFICIAL PROTISTS
Protists play critically important ecological roles as producers
particularly in the world's oceans. They are equally important on
the other end of food webs as decomposers.
PROTISTS AS FOOD SOURCE

Protists and their products of photosynthesis are essential to the

suvival of organisms ranging from bacteria to mammals. As
primary producers, protists feed a large proportion of the
world's aquatic species. Approximately 25 % of the world's
photosynthesis is conducted by prists, particularly
dinoflagellates, diatoms, and multicellular algae.
PROTISTS AS FOOD SOURCE
Protists are essential sources of nutrition for many other
organisms. In some cases, as in plankton, protists are consumed
directly. Alternatively, photosynthetic protists serve as
producers of nutrition for other organisms by carbon fixation.
For instance, photosynthetic dinoflagellates called zooxanthellae
pass on most of their energy to the coral polyps that house
them.

AGENTS OF DECOMPOSITION
Many fungus-like protists are saprobes, organisms that feed on
dead organisms or the waste matter produced by organisms and
are specialized to absorb nutrients from non-living organic
matter. For instance, many types of oomycetes grow on dead
animals or algae.

Saprobic protists have the essential function of returning

inorganic nutrients to the soil and water. This process allows for
new plant growth, which in turn generates sustenance for other
organisms along the food chain.
THANK YOU!