Friday, November 20, 2009

How do Protists interact with Bacteria?

Like, do they compete for living space and food? Do they harm each other? Do they benefit each other?





I can't seem to find info on it.

How do Protists interact with Bacteria?
What difference is there between bacteria and protists? This distinction is founded on the complexity of a cell's organization. The cellular organization of bacteria is particularly simple -they do not have membranes binding their nuclear material- and for this reason they are also named prokaryotes ("before-nucleus"). The cellular organization of protists is more complex -they have a membrane-bound nucleus (and other organelles distinct from the cytoplasm)- and they are therefore called eukaryotes ("true-nucleus"). Animals, plants and fungi, being derived from protists, are also eukaryotes.


Protists are microscopical, unicellular eukaryotes. They generally live in water.


Not all microorganisms are protists. Another "kingdom" contains unicellular microorganisms, the Monera. Bacteria belong to this kingdom.
Reply:They eat them.
Reply:Lichens are symbiotic associations of a fungus (the mycobiont) with a photosynthetic partner (the photobiont also known as the phycobiont) that can produce food for the lichen from sunlight. The photobiont is usually either green algae or cyanobacteria. A few lichens are known to contain yellow-green algae or, in one case, a brown alga. Some lichens contain both green algae and cyanobacteria as photobionts; in these cases, the cyanobacteria symbiont component may specialize in fixing atmospheric nitrogen for metabolic use. The word is pronounced lie-k'n (IPA: [laɪkən]).[1]





The body (thallus) of most lichens is quite different from that of either the fungus or alga growing separately, and may strikingly resemble simple plants in form and growth (Sanders 2001). The fungus surrounds the algal cells, often enclosing them within complex fungal tissues unique to lichen associations; however, the algal cells are never enclosed inside the fungal cells themselves. The fungus may or may not penetrate into the algal cells with fine hyphal protrusions.





In general, the symbiosis is considered obligatory for successful growth and reproduction of the fungus; however, the significance for the algal symbiont is less clear. For some algae, the symbiosis may be obligatory for survival in a particular habitat; in other cases, the symbiosis might not be advantageous for the alga. Thus, there is some controversy as to whether the lichen symbiosis should be considered an example of mutualism or parasitism or commensalism. Nonetheless, the lichen is typically a highly stable association which probably extends the ecological range of both partners


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