Protists in the context of "Germ theory of disease"

Microbiology (from Ancient Greek μῑκρος (mīkros) 'small' βίος (bíos) 'life' and -λογία (-logía) 'study of') is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular (single-celled), multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, protistology, mycology, immunology, and parasitology.

The organisms that constitute the microbial world are characterized as either prokaryotes or eukaryotes; Eukaryotic microorganisms possess membrane-bound organelles and include fungi and protists, whereas prokaryotic organisms are conventionally classified as lacking membrane-bound organelles and include Bacteria and Archaea. Microbiologists traditionally relied on culture, staining, and microscopy for the isolation and identification of microorganisms. However, less than 1% of the microorganisms present in common environments can be cultured in isolation using current means. With the emergence of biotechnology, Microbiologists currently rely on molecular biology tools such as DNA sequence-based identification, for example, the 16S rRNA gene sequence used for bacterial identification.

A xenoma (also known as a 'xenoparasitic complex') is a growth caused by various protists and fungi, most notably microsporidia. It can occur on numerous organisms; however is predominantly found on fish.

In most cases the host cell and nuclei suffers from hypertrophy resulting in a change in organisation of the cell and its structure and can result in polyploid nuclei. This outcome is due to the microsporidian parasite proliferating inside the host cell. This results in a 'symbiotic co-existence' between the parasite and the host cell. This forms the xenoparasitic complex. They tend to contain numerous cellular components as well as microsporidia at different developmental stages and spores.

Protistology is a scientific discipline devoted to the study of protists, a highly diverse group of eukaryotic organisms. All eukaryotes apart from animals, plants and fungi are considered protists. Its field of study therefore overlaps with the more traditional disciplines of phycology, mycology, and protozoology, just as protists embrace mostly unicellular organisms described as algae, some organisms regarded previously as primitive fungi, and protozoa ("animal" motile protists lacking chloroplasts).

They are a paraphyletic group with very diverse morphologies and lifestyles. Their sizes range from unicellular picoeukaryotes only a few micrometres in diameter to multicellular marine algae several metres long.

Picozoa, Picobiliphyta, picobiliphytes, or piliphytes are protists of a phylum of marine unicellular heterotrophic eukaryotes with a size of less than about 3 micrometers. They were formerly treated as eukaryotic algae and the smallest member of photosynthetic picoplankton before it was discovered they do not perform photosynthesis. The phylum currently contains a single species, Picomonas judraskeda. They probably belong in the Archaeplastida as sister of the Rhodophyta.

They were formerly placed within the cryptomonads-haptophytes assemblage.

Ultrastructural identity is a concept in biology. It asserts that evolutionary lineages of eukaryotes in general and protists in particular can be distinguished by complements and arrangements of cellular organelles. These ultrastructural components can be visualized by electron microscopy.

The concept emerged following the application of electron microscopy to protists.

In biology, a propagule is any material that functions in propagating an organism to the next stage in its life cycle, such as by dispersal. The propagule is usually distinct in form from the parent organism. Propagules are produced by organisms such as plants (in the form of seeds or spores), fungi (in the form of spores), and bacteria (for example endospores or microbial cysts).

In disease biology, pathogens are said to generate infectious propagules, the units that transmit a disease. These can refer to bacteria, viruses, fungi, or protists, and can be contained within host material. For instance, for influenza, the infectious propagules are carried in droplets of host saliva or mucus that are expelled during coughing or sneezing.

Heliozoa, commonly known as sun-animalcules, are microbial eukaryotes (protists) with stiff arms (axopodia) radiating from their spherical bodies, which are responsible for their common name. The axopodia are microtubule-supported projections from the amoeboid cell body, and are variously used for capturing food, sensation, movement, and attachment. They are similar to Radiolaria, but they are distinguished from them by lacking central capsules and other complex skeletal elements, although some produce simple scales and spines. They may be found in both freshwater and marine environments.