Question

Brief about protozoans.

Answer 1

Protozoans:

1. Protozoans are eukaryotic, unicellular, and heterotrophs. Some protozoans may be phototrophic.
2. They reproduce both asexually and sexually.
3. They are generally aerobic species. Few may be anaerobic (those found in the human intestine and animal rumen).
4. Some protozoans possess pseudopodia that help in locomotion and capturing prey. Example: Amoeba.
5. Some flagellated protozoans are parasitic and cause many deadly diseases. Example: Trypanosoma is responsible for sleeping sickness.
6. Ciliated protozoans are mostly aquatic. They have hair-like extensions called cilia that help in cell locomotion. Example: Paramecium.
7. Sporozoans are a type of protozoans that have an infectious sporozoite stage in their life cycle. Example: Plasmodium is a sporozoan that causes malaria in humans.