Botany - B.Ye. Yakubenko 2017

Part Two. System of the Organic World
Chapter V. System of the Organic World
5.3. KINGDOM PROTOZOA

The kingdom Protozoa comprises unicellular, colonial, and multicellular fungus-like eukaryotes with a heterotrophic mode of Nutrition. The kingdom includes three phyla, two of which are represented in Ukraine: Myxomycota (slime Molds) and Plasmodiophoromycota. Slime molds are Saprophytes primarily found in damp, shady forests. Their vegetative body is called a plasmodium, which appears as a gelatinous plasma mass containing numerous small nuclei. Plasmodia vary in size and color, and their practical significance is minor.

Plasmodiophorids include dangerous parasites whose vegetative body is also represented by a plasmodium. Through spore reproduction, they rapidly infect agricultural crops. Plasmodiophorids cause diseases in tomatoes, potatoes, and cabbage, inducing deformations and tumors in plant Organs that lead to plant death.



Last update: 07/08/2026

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