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Marine saprobic protists have the essential function of returning inorganic nutrients to the water. This process allows for new algal growth, which in turn generates sustenance for other organisms along the food chain.
- Archaeplastida. Molecular evidence supports the hypothesis that all Archaeplastida are descendents of an endosymbiotic relationship between a heterotrophic protist and a cyanobacterium.
- Amoebozoa. Like the Archaeplastida, the Amoebozoa include species with single cells, species with large multinucleated cells, and species that have multicellular phases.
- Opisthokonta. The Opisthokonts are named for the single posterior flagellum seen in flagellated cells of the group. The flagella of other protists are anterior and their movement pulls the cells along, while the opisthokonts are pushed.
- Rhizaria. The Rhizaria supergroup includes many of the amoebas with thin threadlike, needle-like or root-like pseudopodia (Figure 23.17), rather than the broader lobed pseudopodia of the Amoebozoa.
- Excavata. Many of the protist species classified into the supergroup Excavata are asymmetrical, single-celled organisms with a feeding groove “excavated” from one side.
- Chromalveolata. Current evidence suggests that species classified as 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.
- Rhizaria. The Rhizaria supergroup includes many of the amoebas, most of which have threadlike or needle-like pseudopodia (Ammonia tepida, a Rhizaria species, can be seen in Figure 13).
- 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.
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 (). These protists are a component of freshwater and marine plankton.
- OpenStaxCollege
- 2012
These protists exist in freshwater and marine habitats, and are a component of plankton, the typically microscopic organisms that drift through the water and serve as a crucial food source for larger aquatic organisms.
These protists exist in freshwater and marine habitats, and are a component of plankton, the typically microscopic organisms that drift through the water and serve as a crucial food source for larger aquatic organisms.
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Here, we review marine protists, their evolutionary histories, diversity, ecological roles, and lifestyles in all layers of the ocean, with reference to how views have shifted over time through extensive investigation.
