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A protist (/ ˈ p r oʊ t ɪ s t / PROH-tist) or protoctist is any eukaryotic organism that is not an animal, land plant, or fungus.Protists do not form a natural group, or clade, but are a polyphyletic grouping of several independent clades that evolved from the last eukaryotic common ancestor.
Prokaryotic cells are usually much smaller than eukaryotic cells. Therefore, prokaryotes have a larger surface-area-to-volume ratio , giving them a higher metabolic rate , a higher growth rate, and as a consequence, a shorter generation time than eukaryotes.
Mitochondria are essentially universal in the eukaryotes, and with their own DNA somewhat resemble prokaryotic cells. Mitochondria are organelles in eukaryotic cells. The mitochondrion is commonly called "the powerhouse of the cell", [ 30 ] for its function providing energy by oxidising sugars or fats to produce the energy-storing molecule ATP .
The last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA) is the hypothetical last common ancestor of all living eukaryotes, around 2 billion years ago, [3] [4] and was most likely a biological population. [8] It is believed to have been a protist with a nucleus, at least one centriole and cilium , facultatively aerobic mitochondria, sex ( meiosis and syngamy ...
Protists are distributed across all major groups of eukaryotes, including those that contain multicellular algae, green plants, animals, and fungi. If photosynthetic and fungal protists are distinguished from protozoa, they appear as shown in the phylogenetic tree of eukaryotic groups.
Eukaryotes have a nucleus in their cells, and include: Protists – many unicellular eukaryotes including malarial parasites, amoeba, and diatoms. [69] Kingdom Fungi – eukaryotes such as mushroom, yeast, and mould; all fungi. Kingdom Plantae – all plants. Kingdom Animalia – all animals.
All eukaryotes apart from animals, plants and fungi are considered protists. [1] Its field of study therefore overlaps with the more traditional disciplines of phycology , mycology , and protozoology , just as protists embrace mostly unicellular organisms described as algae , some organisms regarded previously as primitive fungi , and protozoa ...
A protist (/ ˈ p r oʊ t ɪ s t /) is any eukaryotic organism (one with cells containing a nucleus) that is not an animal, plant, or fungus.The protists do not form a natural group, or clade, since they exclude certain eukaryotes with whom they share a common ancestor; [a] but, like algae or invertebrates, the grouping is used for convenience.