Step 1 - What Trypanosoma is
A unicellular, flagellated PROTOZOAN, belonging to KINGDOM PROTISTA.
More precisely it is a ZOOFLAGELLATE (flagellated protozoan).
Step 2 - Its features
- Unicellular, eukaryotic, microscopic
- Moves by a FLAGELLUM with an undulating membrane
- Heterotrophic — it is a PARASITE
- Lives in the BLOOD of its host
Step 3 - The disease it causes
AFRICAN SLEEPING SICKNESS (trypanosomiasis)
Vector (carrier): The TSETSE FLY (Glossina)
Symptoms: Fever, swollen lymph nodes, severe headache, and in the late stage the parasite invades the brain, causing confusion, disturbed sleep cycles, coma and death if untreated.
Step 4 - The four groups of PROTOZOA
| Group | Locomotion | Example | Disease |
|---|
| Amoeboid | Pseudopodia | Amoeba, Entamoeba | Amoebic dysentery |
| FLAGELLATED | Flagella | TRYPANOSOMA, Giardia | Sleeping sickness |
| Ciliated | Cilia | Paramoecium | — |
| Sporozoan | No locomotory organ | Plasmodium | MALARIA |
Step 5 - Other protists to remember
Chrysophytes (diatoms), dinoflagellates (Gonyaulax — red tides), euglenoids (Euglena), slime moulds
Answer: (d) Protozoa
