THE 40 MOST PROMINENT EXAMPLES OF THE PROTIST KINGDOM - BIOLOGY - 2025

Some examples of the protist kingdom are organisms belonging to the class Plasmodium, Leishmania or Trypanosoma, such as Plasmodium falciparum, Trypanosoma cruzi or Leishmania donovani.

This kingdom includes unicellular organisms that do not fit into the kingdom of plants, animals, or the kingdom of fungi. They reproduce asexually, although there are poorly documented cases of sexual reproduction.

There is also variation in nutrition, which can be both autotrophic and heterotrophic. These differences within the same kingdom are due to the large number of organisms that comprise it.

40 examples of the Protista kingdom

1- Plasmodium falciparum

It is a species of parasite belonging to the protozoan category that causes the malaria disease, transmitted through the vector Anopheles mosquito.

2- Trypanosoma cruzi

It is a common parasite in Latin America, which belongs to the Zoomastigophorea class and causes a disease called "chagas disease", common in fields in South America and the Caribbean.

3- Plasmodium vivax

It is a protozoan parasite and a human pathology. It is one of the most frequent and widely distributed causes of Malaria. P. vivax is one of the five species of malaria parasites that commonly infect humans.

4- Trypanosoma brucei

It is a parasitic species belonging to the Trypanosoma phylum. The parasite is the cause of vertebrate animal diseases. This parasite is carried by an insect in the sub-Saharan region.

5- Plasmodium malariae

It is a protozoan parasite that causes malaria in humans. It is one of many species of Plasmodium that infect humans, including P. vivax and P. falciparum, which are responsible for most malaria infections.

6- Leishmania donovani

It is a species of intracellular parasite belonging to the Leishmania class, a group of hemoflagellate kinetoplastids that cause the disease of leishmaniasis.

The parasite infiltrates human blood causing visceral leishmaniasis, one of the most acute forms of the disease.

7- Cystoisospora belli

It used to be known as Isospora belli. It is a parasite known to cause the intestinal disease known as cystoisosporiasis. Suppresses blood cells in the human body.

8- Cyclospora cayetanensis

It is a protozoan that causes disease in humans and probably primates. It has been associated with the United States through contaminated fecal importation and was virtually unknown before 1990.

9- Plasmodium ovale

It is a species of protozoan parasite that causes malaria in humans. It is one of the many species of Plasmodium parasites.

10- Neospora caninum

It is a coccidiasin parasite that was identified as a species in 1988. Before this it was classified as a Toxoplasma species due to its similar characteristics.

11- Babesia canis

It is a parasite that infects red blood cells and can cause anemia. This is a type of parasite that is in the Babesia class.

It is transmitted by Rhipicephalus sanguineus and is one of the most common blood infections.

12- Plasmodium knowlesi

It is a parasite that causes malaria in primates, commonly found in Southeast Asia. It causes malaria in macaques Macaca fascicularis and they can also infect humans.

13- Leishmania tropica

It is a species of flagellated parasite that infects humans and causes a type of disease called leishmaniasis recidivans, which is a form of cutaneous leishmaniasis.

14- Leishmania braziliensis

It is a species belonging to Leishmania and is associated with leishmaniasis. After a few months of the infection it forms ulcers, and after its healing, this disease is usually asymptomatic for two to three years. It causes great damage to the mucous membranes.

15- Trypanosoma evansi

It is a species of trypanosome that causes a form of surra in animals.

16- Theileria microti

It causes a parasitic disease of the blood, which is usually transmitted by a mosquito. It was previously classified in the Babesia class until a ribosomal comparison placed it in the Theileria class.

17- Hepatozoon canis

It is a protist that causes canine hepatozoonosis.

18- Leishmania infantum

It is a protist that causes visceral leishmaniasis in children, in the Mediterranean region of Europe and Latin America, where it has been called Leishmaniasis chagasi. It is also an unusual form of cutaneous leishmaniasis.

19- Crithidia luciliae

It is a flagellated parasite known to use the house fly as a storehouse. These protists are important in the diagnosis of lupus erythematosus.

20- Mexican Leishmania

It belongs to the Leishmania class, and is the cause of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Mexico and Central America. It is an intracellular parasite. The contagion is produced by the bite of a mosquito.

21- Eimeria tenella

It is a species of Eimeria that causes hemorrhagic coccidiosis in young domestic birds. It is stored mainly in chickens.

22- Plasmodium berghei

It is a protozoan parasite that causes malaria in certain rodents. It was originally isolated from rats in central Africa. Berghei is one of the four forms of Plasmodium that exist.

23- Eimeria stiedae

It is a species of Eimeria that causes coccidiosis in rabbits. It was first observed by the scientist Antoni van Leeuwenhoek in 1674

24- Trypanosoma equiperdum

It is a species of burrowing parasites that cause disease in horses, and other equines. Genetic analysis has determined that it is a derivative of T. brucei.

25- Leishmania major

It is a species of parasite found in the Leishmania class, and is associated with cutaneous leishmaniasis caused in animals. It is an intracellular pathogen.

26- Trypanosoma lewisi

It is a parasite of rats and other rodents such as kangaroo rats in America.

27- Babesia divergens

It is an intra-erythrocytic parasite transmitted by ticks. It is the main agent of bovine babesiosis in Europe.

28- Trypanosoma rangeli

It is a species of hemoflagellates of the Trypanosoma class.

29- Theileria parva

It is a species of parasite named after Arnold Tiller that causes theileriosis.

30- Plasmodium gallinaceum

It is a parasitic species that causes malaria in domestic birds.

31- Ophryocystis elektroscirrha

It is a parasite that infects butterflies.

32- Trypanosoma congolense

It is a kind of trypanosome and one of the main causes of disease pathologies in sheep, dogs, goats and camels.

33- Plasmodium yoelii

It is a parasite belonging to the Plasmodium class and the Vinckeia subclass.

34- Eimeria acervulina

It is a species of Eimeria that causes coccidiosis in domestic birds.

35- Besnoitia besnoiti

It is a parasite that causes diseases in cattle, especially in Europe.

36- Plasmodium atheruri

It is a parasite belonging to the Plasmodium class and, like most of this genus, it affects vertebrates with mosquitoes as storage.

37- Leishmania aethiopica

It is a type of Leishmania, and is associated with cutaneous leishmaniasis.

38- Eimeria brunetti

It is a parasite that causes bleeding in young domestic birds.

39- Neospora hughesi

It is a protozoan parasite that is found in inflammatory lesions in equines.

40- Plasmodium aurulentum

It belongs to the class of Plasmodium and attacks invertebrates with mosquitoes as a store.

References

1. Bonfante. Head of research. Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado. Venezuela.
2. Alvarez-Garcia, G; Garcia-Lunar, P; Gutierrez-Exposito, D; Shkap, V; Ortega-Mora, LM (September 2014). "Dynamics of Besnoitia besnoiti infection in cattle". Parasitology.
3. A malaria parasite, Plasmodium aurulentum nov. from the neotropical forest gecko Thecadactylus rapicaudus. J. Protozool.
4. softschools.com.