2) Mitochondria and plastids

CELLMOL replicate by a splitting process

that is similar to that of

2ND SEMESTER 2024

certain bacteria.

Each of these organelles

contains circular DNA molecules
INSTRUCTOR: Ms. Jessica F. Carlos that, like the chromosomes of
bacteria, are not associated
with histones or large amounts
of other proteins

Some prokaryotes differ as much from 3) Mitochondria and plastids also

each other as they do from eukaryotes have the cellular machinery
(including ribosomes) needed to
Such difficulties led biologists to transcribe and translate their
adopt a three-domain system using rRNA: DNA into proteins.
4) In terms of size, RNA sequences,
➔ BACTERIA and sensitivity to certain
➔ ARCHAEA antibiotics, the ribosomes of
mitochondria and plastids are
➔ EUKARYA
more similar to bacterial
Classification level higher than the ribosomes than they are to the
kingdom level, supported by many cytoplasmic ribosomes of
studies, including a recent study that euKaryotic cells.
analyzed nearly 100 completely
sequenced genomes EUKARYOTIC ORGANISMS
Genomes are big (human genome — 700X as
ENDOSYMBIOSIS many nucleotide pairs compared with
much of protistan diversity can be prokaryotes, although ~98.5% are non
traced to endosymbiosis coded genes)

relationship between two species in Rich in regulatory proteins (non coded

which one organism lives inside the genes)
cell or cells of another organism (the
host) EUKARYOTES - PROTISTA

although all eukaryotes have Protista, has been abandoned, and

mitochondria or remnants of these various protist lineages are now
organelles, they do not all have recognized as major groups in their own
plastids (a general term for right
chloroplasts and related organelles)
Most biologist still use the term
Mitochondria evolved from a symbiotic protist, but only as a convenient way
Bacterium captured by an ancient to refer to eukaryotes that are not
Archaeon plants, animals, or fungi

A great deal of evidence supports the Organisms in most eukaryotic lineages

endosymbiotic origin of mitochondria are protists
and plastids:
most protists are unicellular, some
1) Inner membranes of both colonial and multicellular species
mitochondria and plastids have
enzymes and transport systems
that are homologous to those
found in the plasma membranes of
living bacteria.

1
single-celled protists are justifiably PARABASALIDS
considered the simplest eukaryotes, but
at the cellular level, many protists Hydrogenosomes
are very complex— the most elaborate of
all cells reduced mitochondria

carry out essential biological generate some energy anaerobically

functions using subcellular organelles, releasing hydrogen gas as a by-product
not multicellular organs
E.g.
has contractile vacuoles not found In
The parabasalid parasite Trichomonas
most other eukaryotic cells (e.g.,
vaginalis a sexually transmitted parasite
amoeba) that infects about 140 fillion people each
year worldwide. In females, If the vagina’s
some are photoautotrophs and contain normal acidity is disturbed, T. vaginalis
chloroplasts B can outcompete beneficial microorganisms
there and infect the vagina.
some are heterotrophs, absorbing
organic molecules or ingesting larger Trichomonas infections also can occur in the
food particles urethra of males, though often without
symptoms.
reproduce asexually; others reproduce
sexually or at least employ the sexual EUGLENOZOANS
processes of meiosis and fertilization
predatory heterotrophs
PROTISTA photosynthetic autotrophs

➔ EXCAVATA mixotrophs
➔ SAR
➔ RED & GREEN ALGAE parasites
➔ UNIKONTS
presence of a rod with either a spiral
or a crystalline structure inside each
EXCAVATA of their flagella
Modified mitochondria & protists with unique
E.g., kinetoplastids & euglenids
flagella

➔ DIPLOMONADS KINETOPLASTIDS
➔ PARABASALIDS a single, large mitochondria that
➔ EUGLENOZOANS contains an organized mass of DNA

DIPLOMONADS feed or prokaryotes in freshwater

marine, & moist terrestrial ecosystem
Mitosomes
evade immune responses with an
reduced mitochondria effective “bait-and-switch” defense.

lack functional electron transport E.g.

chains
Trypanosoma, the kinetoplastid that causes
cannot use oxygen to help extract sleeping sickness, neurological disease via
vector, African tsetse fly. Can also cause
energy from carbohydrates and other
Chagas’ disease transmitted by bloodsucking
organic molecules
insects and can lead to congestive heart
failure.
use anaerobic pathway instead

2
EUGLENIDS brown or olive color to carotenoids

pocket at one end of the cell from which commonly called "seaweeds”
one or two flagella emerge
rootlike holdfast, which anchors the
mixotrophs: perform photosynthesis when alga
sunlight is available, but when it is
not, they can become heterotrophic, stemlike stipe, which supports the
absorbing organic nutrients from their leaflike blades
environment
lack true tissues and organs
engulf prey by phagocytosis
Seaweeds: adapted to life at the ocean’s
margins. The sea palm (Postelsia) lives on
SAR rocks along the coast of the northwestern
United States and western Canada. The body
highly diverse group of protists defined by of this brown alga is well adapted to
DNA similarities maintaining a firm foothold despite the
crashing surf.
➔ STRAMENOPILES
➔ ALVEOLATES OOMYCETES
➔ RHIZARIANS
water molds (most are decomposers)
STRAMENOPILES white rusts and downy mildews (plant
parasites)
numerous, hairlike projections
flagellum
previously classified as fungi (in
fact, oomycete means “egg fungus”)
“hairy” flagellum is paired with a
shorter “smooth” (nonhairy) flagellum
have multinucleate filaments that
resemble fungal hyphae
➔ DIATOMS
➔ BROWN ALGAE oomycetes cell walls = cellulose
➔ OOMYCETES
ALVEOLATES
Stramenopile flagella most stramenopiles,
such as Synura petersenii, have two membrane-enclosed sacs (alveoli) just
flagella: one covered with fine, stiff hairs under the plasma membrane
and a shorter one that is smooth
photosynthetic and heterotrophic
DIATOMS protists

photosynthetic ➔ FLAGELLATES
● the dinoflagellates
unicellular algae that have a unique
glass-like wall made of silicon dioxide ➔ APICOMPLEXANS
embedded in an organic matrix ● group of parasites
➔ CILIATES
can withstand pressures as great as 1.4 ● Group of protists that
million kg/m2 move using cilia

estimated 100,000 living species ALVEOLI

most abundant in ocean (diatomaceous These sacs under the plasma membrane
earth) and lakes are a characteristic that distinguishes
alveolates from other eukaryotes.
BROWN ALGAE
largest and most complex

multicellular, most are marine

3
DINOFLAGELLATES Food vacuoles fuse with lysosomes. As
the food is digested, the vacuoles
cellulose plates follow a looping path through the cell.
Wastes are released when the vacuoles
grooves in this "armor” house two fuse with a specialized region of as
flagella, (from the Greek dinos, the plasma membrane that functions an
whirling) which spin as they move anal pore,

roughly half are purely heterotrophic RHIZARIANS

many photosynthetic dinoflagellates are Amoebas, moves and feeds by means of
mixotrophic pseudopods

causes red tide - brownish red or pink

➔ RADIOLARIANS
because of the presence of carotenoids
(induced by global warming, a recent ➔ FORAMS
study) ➔ CERCOZOANS

APICOMPLEXANS RADIOLARIANS
parasites of animals through delicate, intricately symmetrical
sporozoites internal skeletons that are generally
made of silica
one end (apex) of the sporozoite cell
contains a complex of organelles pseudopodia radiate from the central
specialized for penetrating host cells body, reinforced by bundles of
and tissues microtubules (covered by a thin layer
of cytoplasm)
Plasmodium, parasite that causes
malaria (lives in both mosquitoes and ● engulf smaller microorganisms
humans) that become attached to the
pseudopodia
CILIATES
Cytoplasmic streaming then carries the
large and varied group of protists captured prey into the main part of the
named for their use of cilia to move cell
and feed

most are predators

After radiolarians die, their skeletons
cilia may completely cover the cell settle to the seafloor, where they have
surface or may be clustered in a few accumulated as an ooze that is hundreds
rows or tufts of meters thick in some locations

Paramecium caudatum ● siliceous mud of the bottom of

deep seas composed largely of
Paramecium constantly takes in water by skeletal remains of radiolarians
osmosis from its hypotonic environment
FORAMS
Bladderlike contractile vacuoles
accumulate excess water from radial Foraminiferans (L. foramen, little
canals and periodically expel it hole, and ferre, to bear), forams
through the plasma membrane.
porous shells, called tests
Cilia along a funnel-shaped oral groove
move food (mainly bacteria) into the ● consist of a single piece of
cell mouth, where the food Is engulfed organic material that typically
into food vacuoles by phagocytosis. is hardened with calcium
carbonate

4
pseudopodia extending through pores bright red = moderate depths
function in swimming, test formation,
and feeding. black in deep water

derive nourishment from the some lack pigmentation live as

photosynthesis of symbiotic algae that heterotrophic parasites on other red
live within the tests algae

FOSSIL FORAMS abundant in warm coastal waters of

tropical oceans
By measuring the magnesium content in
fossilized forams like these, including phycoerythrin, allow them to
researchers seek to learn how ocean absorb blue and green light, which
temperatures have changed over time. penetrate relatively far into the water
Forams take up more magnesium in warmer
species of red alga discovered near the
water than in colder water
Bahamas at a depth of >260m
CERCOZOANS a small number of freshwater and
terrestrial species
first identified in molecular
phylogenies
sexually, alternation of generations
large group of amoeboid and flagellated
red algae do not have flagellated
protists that feed using threadlike
gametes - depend on water currents to
pseudopodia
bring gametes together for
fertilization
inhabitants of marine, freshwater, and
soil ecosystems multicellular, largest multicellular
red algae are Included In the informal
heterotrophs, parasites; predators
designation "seaweeds.”
chlorarachniophytes - mixotrophic:
multicellular red algae, Porphyra
These organisms ingest smaller protists
(Japanese "nori”), as crispy sheets or
and bacteria as well as perform
as wrap for sushi
photosynthesis.
E.g.
A second case of primary endosymbiosis? The
cercozoan Paulinella conducts
photosynthesis in a unique sausage-shaped Bonnemaisonia hamifera. This red alga
structure called chromatophore (LM). has a filamentous form
Chromatophore membranes include a
peptidoglycan layer, indicating that they Dulse (Palmaria palmata). This edible
are derived from a bacterium. DNA evidence species has a “leafy” form.
shows that chromatophores are derived from
a different cyanobacterium than that from Nori. The red alga Porphyra is the
which plastids are. source of a traditional Japanese food

RED & GREEN ALGAE GREEN ALGAE

closest relatives of plants closest relatives of plants

Red algae (rhodophytes, from the Greek grass-green chloroplasts of green algae
word rhodos, red) have a structure and pigment
composition much like the chloroplasts
Reddish, owing to the phycoerythrin, of plants
which masks the green of chlorophyll
molecular systematics and cellular
other species (adapted to shallow morphology leave little doubt that
water) have less phycoerythrin green algae and plants are closely
related.
As a result, red algal species may be
greenish red = very shallow water

5
some systematists now advocate TUBULINIDS
including green algae in an expanded
“plant” kingdom, Viridiplantae (from amoebozoans that have lobe- or tube-
the Latin viridis, green). shaped pseudopodia.

Phylogenetically, this change makes unicellular protists

sense, since otherwise the green algae
are a paraphyletic group ubiquitous In soil, freshwater and
marine environments
divided into two main groups:
heterotrophs - consume bacteria and
1) CHAROPHYTES - algae most closely other protists
related to plants
2) CHLOROPHYTES - simplest some tubulinids feed on detritus
chlorophytes are unicellular (nonliving organic matter)
organisms such as Chlamydomonas
SLIME MOLDS
Larger size and greater complexity
evolved in green algae by three mycetozoans (from the Latin, meaning
different mechanisms: “fungus animals®)

1) formation of colonies of once thought to be fungi as they produce

individual cells, as seen in fruiting bodies that aid in spore
Figure dispersal
2) formation of true multicellular
bodies by cell division and DNA sequence analyses indicate
differentiation, as in Volvox resemblance between slime molds and
and Ulva fungi is a case of evolutionary
3) repeated division of nuclei with convergence
no cytoplasmic division, as in
Slime molds have diverged into two main
Caulerpa
branches:
UNIKONTS
➔ PLASMODIAL SLIME MOLDS
closely related to fungi and animals ➔ CELLULAR SLIME MOLDS

also called Amorphea ENTAMOEBAS

extremely diverse supergroup of symbiotic parasites
eukaryotes that includes animals,
fungi, and some protists infect all classes of vertebrate, some
invertebrates
2 major clades:
Humans are host to at least six species
➔ AMOEBOZOANS of Entamoeba, but only one, E.
➔ OPISTHOKONTS histolytica, is known to be pathogenic.

AMOEBOZOANS ● amoebic dysentery - spread via

contaminated drinking water,
species of amoebas that have lobe- or food, or eating utensils
tube-shaped pseudopodia rather than the ● up to 110,000 deaths worldwIde
threadlike pseudopedia found in per year
rhizarians ● third-leading cause of death due
to eukaryotic parasites, after
most are free-living malaria and schistosomiasis

➔ TUBULINIDS
➔ SLIME MOLDS
➔ ENTAMOEBAS

6
OPISTHOKONTS nuclei (sing. nucleus) ~5-10 μm
(diameter)
extremely diverse group of eukaryotes
that includes animals, fungi, and Angstrom (Å)
several groups of protists
A = 1/10th of a nm (0.10 nm) or 1 nm =
choanoflagellates, nucleariids 10 Å

1 mm = 1000 μm water molecule (4 Å), diameter

1 μm = 1000 nm Hydrogen atom (1 Å), diameter

1 nm = 10 Å WHY ARE CELLS ALMOST ALWAYS

MICROSCOPIC?
Micrometer (μm), aka micron (μ)
➔ SYNTHESIS TIME
Nanometer (nm), aka millimicron (mμ)
➔ ABILITY TO EXCHANGE SUBSTANCES
ProbSet: ➔ DIFFUSION TIME

(1) Convert the size of bacteria to SYNTHESIS TIME

micrometer (μm).
In our cells, there is a control center
Given: a bacterium with a size of 0.5 called the nucleus that has important
millimeters (mm). instructions for making messenger
messages.
Conversion Factor 1 mm = 1000 μm
Each cell can only make a certain number
Solution: Convert the size of the of these messages at a time because it
bacterium from millimeters to only has two copies of each
micrometers instruction.

0.5 𝑚𝑚 × 1000 = 500𝜇𝑚 If a cell is very big (larger

cytoplasmic volume), it will take more
(2) If a mitochondrion were 2 μm in
time to make enough messages because it
length, how many angstroms would it be?
has to work harder with the limited
How nanometers? How many millimeters?
instructions it has
Given: A mitochondrion with a size of 2
μm ABILITY TO EXCHANGE
SUBSTANCES
Conversion Factor 1 mm = 1000 μm; 1
μm = 1000 nm; 1nm =10 Å As a cell increases in size, the surface
area/volume ratio decreases
Solution: Convert the size of a
mitochondrion from μm to a) Å; b} nm; The ability of a cell to exchange
and c) mm: substances with its environment is
proportional to its surface area.
2 𝜇𝑚 × 1000 = 2000 𝑛𝑚: 2000 𝑛𝑚 × 10 Å
= 20000 Å; If a call were to grow beyond a certain
size, its surface would not be
𝜇𝑚 × 1000 = 2000 𝑛𝑚; 2𝜇𝑚 ÷ 1000 = 0.002 𝑚𝑚 sufficient to take up the substances
(e.g., oxygen, nutrients) needed to
CELL SIZE support its metabolic activities

Micrometer (μm)

1 μm = 10-6 m (0.000001 m)

mitochondria (sing mitochondrion) ~2 μm

(length)

7
DIFFUSION TIME SPECIALIZED ADAPTATION
A cell depends to a large degree on ● Adapted to carry oxygen
the random movement of molecules efficiently by being biconcave
(diffusion) and lacking a nucleus
● Contain many ribosomes to
Oxygen, for example must diffuse from support high protein production.
the cell’s surface through the ● Have elongated structures for
cytoplasm to the interior of its transmitting signals effectively
mitochondria ● Have root hair extensions to
increase surface area for water
The time required for diffusion is and mineral absorption
proportional to the square of the
distance to be traversed. For example, SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
O2 requires only 100 microseconds to
diffuse a distance of 1 μm, but requires Uses the molecules, molecular
106 times as long to diffuse a distance complexes, and organelles of a cell as
of 1 mm. building blocks.

As the cell becomes larger and the Develop novel life forms as a strong
distance from the surface to the point, that have a unique value in
interior becomes greater, the time medicine and industry, or in cleaning
required for diffusion to move up the environment.
substances in and out of a
metabolically active cell becomes J. Craig Venter and his team (2010) made
prohibitively long. significant advancements in synthetic
biology by creating a bacterial cell
LARGER EUKARYOTIC CELLS controlled by a chemically synthesized
genome
The free-living single-celled organism
Stentor coeruleus, which lives in
freshwater ponds, grows to be more than
a millimeter long

The giant single-celled green alga

Acetabularia id more than 10 cm long

The gargantuan single-celled green alga

Caulerpa can grow to a length of several
meters and contains millions of nucleus
in a common cytoplasm

HOW SOME CELLS DEFY SIZE LIMIT

Despite these constraints, some
eukaryotic cells can be extremely large
due to specialized adaptations that
help them overcome size limitations.