PROTOZOAN

• Single-celled eukaryotic microorganisms belonging to kingdom protista are classified as Protozoa
• Protos - first; Zoon - animal
• Most of the protozoa are completely nonpathogenic but few may cause major diseases such as malaria, leishmaniasis, and sleeping sickness.
• Protozoa exhibit wide range of size (1-150 micrometer), shape, structure yet possess essential common featurs
• 2 portions of cytoplasm: Endoplasm and Ectoplasm
• Ectoplasm- outer homogenous part; Endoplasm- inner grandular portion of cytoplasm
• Ectoplasm serves as the organ for locomotion and for engulfment of food by producing pseudopodia
• Ectoplasm helps in respiration, discharging of waste material, and in providing protective covering of cell
• Endoplasm contains nucleus
• Nucleus is usually single, but may be double or multiple
• Some species has as many as hundred nuclei in a single cell
• the nucleus contains one or more nucleoli or a central karyosome
• Morphology

  Protozoa - Unicellular

  Metazoa - Multicelluar
• Physiology

  Protozoa - 1 : many

  Metazoa - 1 : 1
• Sarcomastigophora is divided into 2 subphylums

  1. Sarcodina
  2. Mastigophora
• Sarcodina - Amoeba; Mastigophora - Protozoa
• Sarcodina have no permanent locomotory organs, but move about with the aid of temporary prolongations of the body called pseudopodia
• Sarcodina (Sacros, meaning flesh or body)
• Mastigophora (Mastix, meaning whip or flagellum)
• Mastigophora is divided into 2

  1. Atrial flagellates
  2. Hemoflagellates
• Atrial flagellates

  1. C - Chilomastix mesnili
  2. D - Diantamoeba fragilis
  3. G - Giardia lamblia
  4. T - Trichomonas
• Hemoflagellates

  1. L - Leishmania
  2. T - Trypanosoma
• Sarcodina

  1. I - Iodamoeba butschlii
  2. N- Naegleria fowleri
  3. A -Acanthamoeba castellani
  4. E - Entaboeba
  5. E - Edolimax nana
• ciliophora - motile by means of cilia
• only human paasite/ parasite of public health interest is Balantidium coli
• B. coli habitat - large intestine
• disease caused by B. coli is dysentery
• Phylum Apicomplexa is formerly known as sporozoa
• members possess apical complex at some stage in their life cycle
• apical complex serves as the organ of attachment to the host cell
• Apicomplexa are tissue parasites
• Apicomplexa have a complex life cycle with alternating sexual and asexual generations
• Apicomplesa

  1. B - Babesia
  2. C - Cryptosporidium
  3. C - Cyclospora
  4. I - Isospora
  5. P - Plasmodium
  6. T - Toxoplasm
• Phylum microspora contains many minute intracellular protozoan parasites which frequently cause disease in immunodeficient subjects
• microspora rarely cause illness in the immunocompetent
• microscopra consists of spore-forming parasites of both vertebrates and invertebrates
• microscopra is grouped as sporozoa because of some structural differences
• Microscopra

  1. P - Pleistophora
  2. E - Encephalitozoon
  3. T -Trachipleistophora
  4. V - Vittaforma
  5. E - Enterocytozoon
  6. B - Brachiola
  7. M - Microsporidium
• Sporozoans are obligate intracellular parasites that reproduce by binary fission within host cells, with no free living stage.
• The life cycle of Sporozoa involves alternating generations between two hosts (heteroxenous) or one host (homoxenous).