Gas and Exchange in a Protozoan

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Gas and Exchange in a Protozoan

          Protozoa are small, unicellular, eukaryotic organisms, belonging to the kingdom Protoctista. The term ‘protozoa’ is used more for the animal-like single celled organisms like amoebas and ciliates. Examples of protozoa are Amoeba spp. and Paramecium spp., both of which live in water and obtain their oxygen from their environment.

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        As they are unicellular and small, they have a large surface area to volume ratio. Also due to their size, their need for oxygen is quite small and their cell surface membrane acts as their respiratory surface.

They are not large organisms; therefore the oxygen is able to diffuse very quickly to wherever it is being used. They also live in quite moist conditions. This helps the exchange of gases as this factor is greatly beneficial to a high rate of gas exchange. As their respiratory surface is their cell surface membrane they get rid of waste ...

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