What is a protist?
Q: What is a protist?
A: A protist is a single-celled eukaryote, meaning an organism with a nucleus. They are not a natural group and are often grouped together for convenience. Most protists are very small and microscopic, usually invisible to the naked eye.
Q: How do protists make their own food?
A: Some protists are autotrophic, meaning they make their own food by photosynthesis. Others are heterotrophic, meaning they eat organic material.
Q: Are all algae considered protists?
A: Yes, if they are single-celled then they can be considered part of the Protista kingdom.
Q: What role do protists play in the ecosystem?
A: Many protists are part of the plankton and therefore play an important role in the ecosystem.
Q: What methods have been used to analyze protists?
A: It is now possible to use DNA sequencing to analyze different types of protists. This has revealed that Protista is not a monophyletic group but rather paraphyletic and not a single clade.
Q: Can some protists cause diseases?
A: Yes, Plasmodium falciparum causes malaria and sleeping sickness can also be caused by certain types of protist organisms.
Q: What is an example of a single celled organism in the Protista kingdom?
A: An example of such an organism would be Paramecium or "slipper animalcule." The Paramecium moves using its small hair-like fibers called cilia and eats using these cilia to sweep food into its food vacuole.
