NEET BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Many protists live in aquatic habitats, and most are motile, or able to move. Protists have complex life cycles that may include both sexual and asexual reproduction.

Detailed explanation-2: -Some protists use gametes to reproduce sexually, whereas others use binary fission to reproduce asexually. A good example of a species with extraordinarily complicated life cycles is Plasmodium falciparum, which has both sexual and asexual versions of the organism.

Detailed explanation-3: -In fact, sexual reproduction-the union of two gametes (syngamy)-is the most common sexual phenomenon and occurs quite widely among the protists-for example, among various flagellated organisms and pseudopods and among many parasitic phyla (e.g., in Plasmodium, a malaria-causing organism).

Detailed explanation-4: -Protists reproduce sexually by a process involving cell fusion and zygote formation. During sexual reproduction, two cells fuse and their nuclei, their chromosomes and usually cytoplasm combine to form a new cell, the zygote. The process of fusion of haploid cells is called syngamy or fertilization.