NOTES ON PROTOZOANS

1. CHARACTERISTICS OF PROTOZOANS; PROTOZOANS ARE UNICELLULAR WITH DISTINCT NUCLEI AND NO CELL WALL.

2. UNLIKE BACTERIA, PROTOZOANS HAVE NO CELL WALL, AND THEY HAVE DISTINCT NUCLEI.

3. TYPES OF PROTOZOAN REPRODUCTION;
BINARY FISSION - SPLITTING OF A CELL INTO TWO CELLS
CONJUGATION - TWO CELLS SHARE HEREDITARY MATERIAL
PRODUCTION OF SPORES IS A THIRD TYPE OF REPRODUCTION

4. PROTOZOANS ARE DIFFERENT FROM MEMBERS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM BECAUSE ANIMALS ARE ALWAYS MULTICELLULAR.

5. SARCODINIANS (AMOEBAS) MOVE BY PSEUDOPODS
CILIATES MOVE BY MEANS OF CILIA (PARAMECIUM)

6. AN AMOEBA FEEDS BY SURROUNDING AND ENGULFING ITS PREY.
A PARAMECIUM FEEDS BY MOVING FOOD INTO ITS ORAL GROOVE AND THEN INTO ITS GULLET WHERE A FOOD VACUOLE FORMS.

7. FLAGELLATES (EUGLENA) MOVE BY MEANS OF A WHIP LIKE FLAGELLA.
SPOROZOANS HAVE NO MEANS OF MOVEMENT


8. IN EUGLENA THERE IS AN EYE SPOT WHICH ALLOWS THE PROTOZOAN TO RESPOND TO LIGHT WHICH IT USES TO MAKE FOOD.
EUGLENA IS A HETEROTROPH AS WELL AS AN AUTOTROPH. IT CAN OBTAIN FOOD FROM ITS SURROUNDINGS AS WELL AS MAKE ITS OWN FOOD THROUGH PHOTOSYNTHESIS.