The fight against these numerous and dangerous protozoal diseases requires a detailed study of the biology of pathogens and their development cycles.
Free-living protozoa are also of some practical interest. Their different types are confined to a certain set of external conditions, in particular to the different chemical composition of water.
Certain types of protozoa live in varying degrees of fresh water pollution with organic substances. Therefore, by the species composition of protozoa one can judge the properties of the water of a reservoir. These features of protozoa are used for sanitary and hygienic purposes in the so-called biological analysis of water.
In the general cycle of substances in nature, protozoa play a significant role. In bodies of water, many of them are energetic eaters of bacteria and other microorganisms. At the same time, they themselves serve as food for larger animal organisms. In particular, the fry of many fish species hatching from the eggs at the very initial stages of their lives feed mainly on protozoa.
The type of protozoa is geologically very ancient. Those species of protozoa that had a mineral skeleton (foraminifera, radiolarians - website note) are well preserved in the fossil state. Their fossil remains are known from the most ancient Lower Cambrian deposits.
Marine protozoa - rhizopods and radiolarians - played and continue to play a very significant role in the formation of marine sedimentary rocks. Over the course of many millions and tens of millions of years, microscopically small mineral skeletons of protozoa, after the death of animals, sank to the bottom, forming thick marine sediments here.
When the relief of the earth's crust changed, during mining processes in past geological eras, the seabed became dry land. Marine sediments turned into sedimentary rocks. Many of them, such as some limestones, chalk deposits, etc., largely consist of the remains of the skeletons of marine protozoa. Because of this, the study of paleontological remains of protozoa plays a large role in determining the age of different layers of the earth's crust and, therefore, is of significant importance in geological exploration, in particular in mineral exploration.
The role of protozoa in human life
1.
Pathogens of diseases in humans and animals.
2.
Tenants and symbionts in human and animal bodies (help in digesting food).
The study of fossil remains of protozoa plays a large role in determining the age of different layers of the earth's crust and finding oil-bearing layers.
The fight against water pollution is the most important state task. Protozoa are an indicator of the degree of pollution of fresh water bodies. Each type of protozoan animal requires certain conditions to exist. Some protozoa live only in clean water, containing a lot of dissolved air and not polluted by waste from factories and factories; others are adapted to life in water bodies of moderate pollution.
Finally, there are protozoa that can live in very polluted wastewater. Thus, the presence of a certain species of protozoa in a reservoir makes it possible to judge the degree of its pollution.
Protozoa are a source of food for other animals. In the seas and fresh waters, protozoa, primarily ciliates and flagellates, serve as food for small multicellular animals. Worms, mollusks, small crustaceans, as well as the fry of many fish feed primarily on single-celled organisms. These small multicellular organisms, in turn, feed on other, larger organisms.
The largest animal that has ever lived on Earth, the blue whale, like all other baleen whales, feeds on very small crustaceans that inhabit the oceans. And these crustaceans feed on single-celled organisms. Ultimately, whales depend on single-celled animals and plants for their existence.
Protozoa are participants in the formation of rocks. Examining a crushed piece of ordinary writing chalk under a microscope, you can see that it consists mainly of the smallest shells of some animals. Marine protozoa (rhizopods and radiolarians) play a very important role in the formation of marine sedimentary rocks.
Over many tens of millions of years, their microscopically small mineral skeletons settled to the bottom and formed thick deposits. In ancient geological epochs, during the mountain-building process, the seabed became dry land. Limestones, chalk and some other rocks largely consist of the remains of the skeletons of marine protozoa. Limestone has long been of great practical importance as a building material.
Protozoa, living in the oceans, fresh waters, soil and higher organisms, occupy an important place in the cycle of substances in the biosphere. In the aquatic environment, protozoa are the basis of plankton, used as food by other larger animals. Thick layers of sedimentary rocks are formed from the skeletons of protozoa: foraminifera, radiolarians and armored flagellates - coccolithophores.
Many aquatic protozoa - sedimentators that feed on suspended organic particles and bacteria - play a significant role in the biological purification of water. Soil amoebas, ciliates and flagellates are an important part of the soil fauna: they take part in soil formation. A number of species of protozoa constitute a useful group of symbionts of higher animals that improve digestion and metabolic processes in the body.
More than 200 species of flagellates live in the stomachs of termites, converting fiber into sugar.
Collared flagellates are possible ancestors of multicellular animals.
Slipper ciliates serve as food for the inhabitants of reservoirs.
In the seas and oceans, many shell rhizomes die every hour. Falling to the bottom, they form limestone deposits. The chalk used to write on a blackboard, whiten the walls and ceilings of buildings, and the limestone used to build houses consist mainly of the shells of marine protozoa. Using the remains of accumulations of shells of extinct marine unicellular animals, geologists find places of deposits of oil and other minerals.
Food chains in aquatic ecosystems begin with microscopic algae. The second link in them is usually planktonic protozoa - the first consumers of green products. Then they become the basis of nutrition for the animal-eating inhabitants of aquatic ecosystems: crustaceans, fish fry and all subsequent consumers. When the remains of dead plants and animals sink to the bottom, they are picked up by bottom-dwelling protozoa.
Many protozoa inhabit every millimeter of soil saturated with ground moisture. Together with other inhabitants, they maintain soil fertility.
The irony of fate: herbivorous animals themselves are not able to digest cellulose (fiber - note! Protozoa do this for them, populating their food tract from the first days of life. The intestine of a termite, the cecum of a hare and the stomach of a cow are equipped with special warehouses to accommodate these cohabitants. The owner Assimilates only the result of their digestion, and at the same time the protozoa themselves.
The fight against these numerous and dangerous protozoal diseases requires a detailed study of the biology of pathogens and their development cycles.
Of some practical interest are free-living protozoa. Their different types are confined to a certain set of external conditions, in particular to the different chemical composition of water.
Certain types of protozoa live in varying degrees of fresh water pollution with organic substances. Therefore, by the species composition of protozoa one can judge the properties of the water of a reservoir. These features of protozoa are used for sanitary and hygienic purposes in the so-called biological analysis of water.
In the general cycle of substances in nature protozoa play a prominent role. In bodies of water, many of them are energetic eaters of bacteria and other microorganisms. At the same time, they themselves serve as food for larger animal organisms. In particular, the fry of many fish species hatching from the eggs at the very initial stages of their lives feed mainly on protozoa.
The type of protozoa is geologically very ancient. Those species of protozoa that had a mineral skeleton (foraminifera, radiolarians) are well preserved in the fossil state. Their fossil remains are known from the most ancient Lower Cambrian deposits.
Marine protozoa - rhizopods and radiolarians - played and continue to play a very significant role in the formation of marine sedimentary rocks. Over the course of many millions and tens of millions of years, microscopically small mineral skeletons of protozoa, after the death of animals, sank to the bottom, forming thick marine sediments here. When the relief of the earth's crust changed, during mining processes in past geological eras, the seabed became dry land. Marine sediments turned into sedimentary rocks. Many of them, such as some limestones, chalk deposits, etc., largely consist of the remains of the skeletons of marine protozoa. Because of this, the study of paleontological remains of protozoa plays a large role in determining the age of different layers of the earth's crust and, therefore, is of significant importance in geological exploration, in particular in mineral exploration.
Many fish feed primarily on single-celled organisms; Without protozoa, their existence would be impossible. These multicellular animals, in turn, feed on larger animals, and primarily on growing fish fry. Hence the enormous importance of protozoa in the life of nature and in the national economy.
The largest animal that has ever lived on Earth, the blue whale, feeds on very small crustaceans that inhabit the oceans. Other toothless whales also feed on them. And these crustaceans, in turn, feed on small animals. Ultimately, the existence of ‘whales’ depends on single-celled animals and plants.
Protozoa are participants in the formation of rocks. Examining a crushed piece of ordinary writing chalk under a microscope, you can see that it consists mainly of small shells of some animals. Many calcareous rocks of the Volga region, Urals, Crimea, and Caucasus also consist of microscopic shells. Each such shell once contained the body of a simple animal - foraminifera, which lived in ancient times on the bottom of seas and oceans. Many limestones consist almost entirely of shells of various foraminifera. Limestone has long been of great practical importance as a building material. For example, gigantic ancient structures - the Egyptian pyramids - were built from them.
And currently, a significant part of the ocean floor is covered with silt consisting of foraminifera shells.
Foraminifera - the simplest animals, they are closest to amoebas. Their different types differ in the structure of the calcareous shell, inside which protoplasm with nuclei is placed. Often the shell is spiral and multi-chambered inside. In the partitions between the chambers there are openings through which the protoplasm located in adjacent chambers communicates.
Remains of foraminifera in rocks are of great importance in geological exploration: the discovery of certain types of foraminifera in limestone indicates the proximity of oil-bearing layers.
It must be borne in mind, however, that not all limestones consist of protozoan shells. Many limestones are formed by the remains of coral skeletons, mollusk shells, etc.
Protozoa are an indicator of the degree of pollution of fresh water bodies. The fight against water pollution is the most important state task. Each type of protozoan animal requires certain conditions to exist. Some protozoa can live only in clean water, containing a lot of dissolved air and not polluted by waste from factories and factories; others are adapted to life in water bodies of moderate pollution. Finally, there are protozoa that can live in very polluted wastewater. The presence of a certain type of protozoa in a reservoir makes it possible to judge the degree of its pollution, after which measures can be prescribed to clean it.
The cause of malaria is that germs of the malarial plasmodium enter the human blood. They invade red blood cells (erythrocytes), feed on them and, as a result, destroy them. When multiplying in human blood, plasmodia infect a huge number of red blood cells, which leads to severe anemia.
So, protozoa are of great importance in the life of nature, in human life and in the national economy. Some of them are not only useful, but also necessary; others, on the contrary, cause very dangerous diseases.
Protozoa are a source of food for other animals. In the seas and fresh waters, protozoa, primarily ciliates and flagellates, serve as food for small multicellular animals. Many worms, mollusks, small crustaceans, as well as the fry of many fish, feed primarily on unicellular organisms; Without protozoa, their existence would be impossible. These multicellular animals, in turn, feed on larger animals, and primarily on growing fish fry. Hence the enormous importance of protozoa in the life of nature and in the national economy.
The largest animal that has ever lived on Earth, the blue whale, feeds on very small crustaceans that inhabit the oceans. Other toothless whales also feed on them. And these crustaceans, in turn, feed on small animals. Ultimately, whales depend on single-celled animals and plants for their existence.
Protozoa are participants in the formation of rocks. Examining a crushed piece of ordinary writing chalk under a microscope, you can see that it consists mainly of small shells of some animals. Many calcareous rocks of the Volga region, Urals, Crimea, and Caucasus also consist of microscopic shells. Each such shell once contained the body of a simple animal - a foraminifera, which lived in ancient times on the bottom of seas and oceans. Many limestones consist almost entirely of shells of various foraminifera. Limestone has long been of great practical importance as a building material. For example, gigantic ancient structures - the Egyptian pyramids - were built from them.
And currently, a significant part of the ocean floor is covered with silt consisting of foraminifera shells.
Foraminifera are the simplest animals; they are closest to amoebas. Their different types differ in the structure of the calcareous shell, inside which protoplasm with nuclei is placed. Often the shell is spiral and multi-chambered inside. In the partitions between the chambers there are openings through which the protoplasm located in adjacent chambers communicates. The Latin word "foramen" means "hole", hence the name "foraminifera" ("hole-bearing").
Remains of foraminifera in rocks are of great importance in geological exploration: the discovery of certain types of foraminifera in limestone indicates the proximity of oil-bearing layers.
It must be borne in mind, however, that not all limestones consist of protozoan shells. Many limestones are formed by the remains of coral skeletons, mollusk shells, etc.
Protozoa are an indicator of the degree of pollution of fresh water bodies. The fight against water pollution is the most important state task. Each type of protozoan animal requires certain conditions to exist. Some protozoa can only live in clean water, containing a lot of dissolved air and not polluted by waste from factories and factories; others are adapted to life in water bodies of moderate pollution. Finally, there are protozoa that can live in very polluted wastewater. The presence of a certain type of protozoa in a reservoir makes it possible to judge the degree of its pollution, after which measures can be prescribed to clean it.
The cause of malaria is that germs of the malarial plasmodium enter the human blood. They invade red blood cells (erythrocytes), feed on them and, as a result, destroy them. When multiplying in human blood, plasmodia infect a huge number of red blood cells, which leads to severe anemia.
Although malaria is a contagious disease, a healthy person cannot become infected directly from a malaria patient. It is transmitted from a sick person to a healthy person by special types of mosquitoes - the so-called malaria mosquitoes (Anopheles).
Plasmodium malaria goes through a complex development cycle in the human blood and in the mosquito body. If a malaria mosquito sucks the blood of a person with malaria, malaria plasmodia will enter the mosquito's intestines. They multiply in the mosquito's body, and a large number of Plasmodium embryos collect in the salivary glands of the mosquito. Such an infected mosquito is dangerous to humans. Sucking the blood, he, with his saliva, introduces the germs of malarial plasmodium into the blood of a healthy person. Currently, in the USSR, thanks to the measures taken, the incidence of malaria has decreased significantly (see article "").
Of the animal diseases caused by trypanosomes, the most dangerous disease within the USSR is suauru disease, which kills camels and horses in the Lower Volga region and Central Asia. The causative agent of suauru is transmitted by horseflies and some blood-sucking flies.
So, protozoa are of great importance in the life of nature, in human life and in the national economy. Some of them are not only useful, but also necessary; others, on the contrary, cause very dangerous diseases.
If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.
Loading...
