Question

Are all protists photosynthetic?

Answer 1

Protists

1. Simple, single-celled eukaryotes.
2. They are neither plants nor animals.
3. Mode of reproduction- asexual or sexual.
4. Examples- algae, plasmodium, euglena, amoebas, slime molds, etc.

Mode of nutrition in protists:

1. Protists are either autotrophic or heterotrophic. Some of them are mixotrophs.
2. Protists like algae prepare their food using sunlight and are called autotrophs/photosynthetic.
3. Heterotrophs are organisms whose source of nutrition is other plants and animals.
4. Examples of heterotrophic protists are amoeba, paramecium, etc.
5. Mixotrophy is when organisms use photosynthesis and phagocytosis (nutrients from dead material).
6. Example- Planktonic protozoans like Ochromonas & Dinobryon feed on bacteria, but the preferred mode of nutrition is photosynthesis.
7. Therefore, not all protists are photosynthetic.