Sidebar

services

DOCTORAL COURSE UNIT DESCRIPTION

Course unit

title

Scientific direction

Scientific code

Faculty

Department (s)

Protistology

Zoology N 014

Nature Research Center

Institute of Ecology

Mode of studies

Number of credits

Mode of studies

Number of credits

Lectures

0

Consultations

2

Self-studies

8

Seminars

0
         

Aims of course

Introduction to protists.

Main topics

Definition: protists and their general characterization. History of investigation. Systematics: historical aspects, current classification and the main problems of macro-taxonomy. Structure of protist cells. Evolution of protists and phylogenetic relationships. Movement mechanisms. Morphogenesis and multiplication. Nuclei and sexual process. Behaviour. Ecology: symbionts, parasites, commensals; the role of free-living protists in ecosystems. Sampling and cultivation of protists.

Main literature

Corliss, J.O., 2004. Why the world needs protists! J. Eukaryot. Microbiol. 51, 8–22. doi: 10.1111/j.1550-7408.2004.tb0015

Simpson, A. G., Slamovits, C. H., & Archibald, J. M. (2017). Protist diversity and eukaryote phylogeny. Handbook of the Protists. 2nd ed, 1662 pp.

Berney, C., Ciuprina, A., Bender, S. et al. 2017. UniEuk : Time to speak a common language in protistology. 64, 407–411. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeu.12414

Boenigk, J., Ereshefsky, M., Hoef-Emden et al. 2012. Concepts in protistology : Species definitions and boundaries. Eur. J. Protistol. 48, 96–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejop.2011.11.004

Cavalier-Smith, T., 2018. Kingdom Chromista and its eight phyla: a new synthesis emphasising periplastid protein targeting, cytoskeletal and periplastid evolution, and ancient divergences. Protoplasma 255, 297–357. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-017-1147-3

Ruggiero, M.A., Gordon, D.P., Orrell, T.M., Bailly, N., Bourgoin, T., Brusca, R.C., Cavalier-Smith, T., Guiry, M.D., Kirk, P.M., 2015. A higher level classification of all living organisms. PLoS One 10, 1–60. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0119248

Simpson, A.G.B., Eglit, Y., 2016. Protist diversification. Encycl. Evol. Biol. 3, 344–360. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-800049-6.00247-X

Taylor, F.J.R.M., 2003. The collapse of the two-kingdom system, the rise of protistology and the founding of the International Society for Evolutionary Protistology (ISEP). Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 53, 1707–1714. https://doi.org/10.1099/ijs.0.02587-0

Valkiūnas, G., 2005. Avian malaria parasites and other haemosporidia. CRC Press. 932 pp.

Electronic information resources

Potists: evolution and ecology of microbial eukaryote:

https://www.coursera.org/learn/protists-evolution-ecology-microbial-eukaryotes
 
     
 

Assessment strategy

Assessment criteria
 

Examination

 

A presentation (about 20 min.) on research work (preferably on theme of PhD research) and three questions. Presentation and answers will be evaluated between 10 and 2 points according to the level of knowledge.
       

Coordinator(s): Name, surname

Scientific degree

Pedagogical

rank

Email

Gediminas Valkiūnas

Habil. Dr.

  

Approved by the Council of Graduate School of Life Sciences Center No 600000-…-… on the …. of …… 2021

Chairman 

Doctoral School