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Encyclopedia of Astrobiology pp 1Cite as

Protists

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Definition

Protists are a diverse group of eukaryotic microorganisms that encompass mostly unicellular and some multicellular organisms that do not fit phylogenetically into the well-defined kingdoms: Animalia, Plantae, and Fungi. Historically, protists were treated as the kingdom Protista, but this group has been contested in modern taxonomy. Protists do not have much in common besides a relatively simple organization, either unicellular or multicellular, with no specialized tissues. The term protista was first used by Ernst Haeckel in 1866. Protists live in almost any environment that contains liquid water. Most protists, such as algae, are photosynthetic and are fundamental primary producers in many ecosystems, making up a large part of the plankton of the oceans.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biologia Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

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  1. Ricardo Amils
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Correspondence to Ricardo Amils .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Amils, R. (2014). Protists. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1900-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1900-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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