Characteristics of protozoans organisms

Protozoa

Protozoa are microscopic, one-celled organisms that can be free-living or parasitic in nature. They are able to multiply in humans, which contributes to their survival and also permits serious infections to develop from just a single organism. Transmission of protozoa that live in a human's intestine to another human typically occurs through a fecal-oral route (for example, contaminated food or water or person-to-person contact). Protozoa that live in the blood or tissue of humans are transmitted to other humans bygd an arthropod vector (for example, through the bite of a mosquito or sand fly).

The protozoa that are infectious to humans can be classified into four groups based on their mode of movement:

• Sarcodina – the ameba, e.g., Entamoeba
• Mastigophora – the flagellates, e.g., Giardia, Leishmania
• Ciliophora – the ciliates, e.g., Balantidium
• Sporozoa – organisms whose adult stage fryst vatten not motile e.g., Plasmodium,

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  Protozoa definition

  Let's start by looking at the definition of protozoa.

  Protozoa are a diverse group of unicellular, motile, and heterotrophic eukaryotic organisms that feed on Bacteria, other protozoa, organic matter, and even Fungi.

  Protozoa are also known as animal-like protistsand are a part of the kingdom Protista. The kingdom Protista contains the following organisms:

  • Protozoa (animal-like protists)

  • Algae(plant-like protists)

  • Slime molds (fungi-like protists)

  Protozoa characteristics

  Let's explore the different characteristics of Protozoa. Protozoa are microscopic, single-celled eukaryotic organisms. They lack a cell wall, but some of them have an elastic "shell" known as a pellicle. They are mostly naked, but some protozoa have a simple endoskeleton or exoskeleton.

  They are mostly Heterotrophs, meaning that they cannot make their food, so they consume other Animals, Plants, or dead organic matter. However, some protozoans are autotr

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  Protozoa

  What is Protozoa?

  Protozoa are unicellular, eukaryotic, heterotrophic organisms. They are either free-living or parasites. There are around 65000 species of protozoans categorised in different groups. They lack a cell wall. There are many different cell organelles, that perform various tasks performed by different organs in higher animals, e.g. mouth, anus, intestinal tract, etc.

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  There are many protozoa, that cause various diseases in animals and humans, e.g. Plasmodium (malarial parasite), Trypanosoma (sleeping sickness), Trichomonas (trichomoniasis), etc.
   
  The protozoa have many stages in their life cycle. Some of the stages of the life cycle are infectious.
   
  The cyst stage is dormant and resistant to environmental stress, the trophozoite stage is reproductive and causes disease.

  Table of Content

  General Characteristics of Protozoa

  Habitat- Protozoa are found in the aqua

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