Protistology

{{short description|Scientific discipline devoted to the study of protists}} {{Refimprove|date=February 2013}} {{TopicTOC-Biology}} '''Protistology''' is a scientific discipline devoted to the study of protists, a highly diverse group of eukaryotic organisms. All eukaryotes apart from animals, plants and fungi are considered protists.<ref name="Geisen et al 2018">{{cite journal |last1=Geisen |first1=Stefan |last2=Mitchell |first2=Edward A D |last3=Adl |first3=Sina |last4=authors |first4=and 10 further |title=Soil protists: a fertile frontier in soil biology research |journal=FEMS Microbiology Reviews |date=2018 |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=293–323 |doi=10.1093/femsre/fuy006 |pmid=29447350 |url=https://academic.oup.com/femsre/article/42/3/293/4855940 |access-date=25 December 2020|doi-access=free |url-access=subscription |hdl=20.500.11755/3bcd0c88-ea33-4c85-ab20-242a68d1d6b4 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Its field of study therefore overlaps with the more traditional disciplines of phycology, mycology, and protozoology, just as protists embrace mostly unicellular organisms described as algae, some organisms regarded previously as primitive fungi, and protozoa ("animal" motile protists lacking chloroplasts).<ref name="Geisen et al 2018" />

They are a paraphyletic group with very diverse morphologies and lifestyles. Their sizes range from unicellular picoeukaryotes only a few micrometres in diameter to multicellular marine algae several metres long.<ref name="Geisen et al 2018" />

==History== The history of the study of protists has its origins in the 17th century. Since the beginning, the study of protists has been intimately linked to developments in microscopy, which have allowed important advances in the understanding of these organisms due to their generally microscopic nature. Among the pioneers was Anton van Leeuwenhoek, who observed a variety of free-living protists and in 1674 named them "very little animalcules".<ref name="The Flagellates">{{cite book|title=The Flagellates. Unity, diversity and evolution|editor1=Barry S. C. Leadbeater|editor2=J. C. Green|chapter=Chapter 1. The flagellates: historical perspectives|author1=Barry S. C. Leadbeater|author2=Sharon M. M. McReady|publisher=Taylor & Francis|publication-place=London|date=2000|pages=1–26| doi=10.1201/9781482268225|isbn=978-0-429-18213-6 }}</ref>

During the 18th century studies on the Infusoria were dominated by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg and Félix Dujardin.<ref>Fauré-Frémiet, E. & Théodoridès, J. (1972). [http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/rhs_0151-4105_1972_num_25_1_3263 État des connaissances sur la structure des Protozoaires avant la formulation de la Théorie cellulaire]. ''Revue d'histoire des sciences'', 27–44.</ref>

The term "protozoology" has become dated as understanding of the evolutionary relationships of the eukaryotes has improved, and is frequently replaced by the term "protistology". For example, the Society of Protozoologists, founded in 1947, was renamed International Society of Protistologists in 2005. However, the older term is retained in some cases (e.g., the Polish journal ''Acta Protozoologica'').<ref>{{Cite web|title=Home|url=https://protistologists.org/this-url-is-canonical/|access-date=2021-06-28|website=International Society of Protistologists|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Journals and societies== Dedicated academic journals include:<ref>{{cite journal | author = Wolf M., Hausmann K. | year = 2001 | title = Protozoology from the perspective of science theory: history and concept of a biological discipline | url = http://www.igb-berlin.de/IGB-Publikationen/Wolf_2001_j_LBB.pdf | journal = Linzer Biol. Beitr | volume = 33 | pages = 461–488 }}</ref>

* ''Archiv für Protistenkunde'', 1902–1998, Germany (renamed ''Protist'', 1998–);<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.elsevier.com/journals/protist/1434-4610 |title=''Protist'' |author= |publisher=Elsevier |access-date=12 January 2013}}</ref> * ''Archives de la Societe Russe de Protistologie'', 1922-1928, Russia; * ''Journal of Protozoology'', 1954-1993, USA (renamed ''Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology'', 1993–);<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1550-7408 |title=''Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology'' |author= |journal= Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology|access-date=18 June 2013|doi=10.1111/(ISSN)1550-7408 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> * ''Acta Protozoologica'', 1963-, Poland;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eko.uj.edu.pl/ap/ |title=''Acta Protozoologica'' (''International Journal of Protozoology'') |author= |publisher=Jagiellonian University Press |access-date=12 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504190807/http://www.eko.uj.edu.pl/ap/ |archive-date=4 May 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> * ''Protistologica'', 1968–1987, France (renamed ''European Journal of Protistology'', 1987–);<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.elsevier.com/journals/european-journal-of-protistology/0932-4739 |title=''European Journal of Protistology'' |author= |publisher=Elsevier |access-date=12 January 2013}}</ref> * ''Japanese Journal of Protozoology'', 1968-2017, Japan (renamed ''Journal of Protistology'', 2018-);<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/jop/-char/en |title=''Journal of Protistology'' |author= |publisher=J-STAGE |access-date=21 February 2017}}</ref> * ''Protistology'', 1999-, Russia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://protistology.ifmo.ru/ |title=''Protistology'', an international journal |author= |access-date=12 January 2013}}</ref>

Other less specialized journals, important to protistology before the appearance of the more specialized: * ''Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences'', 1666-, France; * ''Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science'', 1853–1966, UK (renamed ''Journal of Cell Science'', 1966–); * ''Archiv für mikroskopische Anatomie'', 1865–1923, Germany; * ''Transactions of the Microscopical Society'', 1841–1869, UK (renamed ''Journal of Microscopy'', 1869–); * ''Transactions of the American Microscopical Society'', 1880–1994, USA (renamed ''Invertebrate Biology'', 1995–); * ''Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz'', 1909–, Brazil.

Some societies: * Society of Protozoloogists, 1947–2005, USA (renamed International Society of Protistologists, 2005–), with many affiliates;<ref>{{cite web|title = New President's Address|url = http://protozoa.uga.edu/artman/publish/article_37.shtml|website = protozoa.uga.edu|access-date = 2015-05-01}}</ref> * International Society for Evolutionary Protistology, 1975, USA.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1099/ijs.0.02587-0|title = The collapse of the two-kingdom system, the rise of protistology and the founding of the International Society for Evolutionary Protistology (ISEP)| journal=International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology| volume=53| issue=6| pages=1707–1714|year = 2003|last1 = Taylor|first1 = F. J. R. 'M.| pmid=14657097| doi-access=free}}</ref> * Protistology UK (previously British Society for Protist Biology)<ref>{{cite web |title=Welcome to Protistology UK! |url=https://www.protistology.org.uk/ |website=Protistology UK |access-date=25 December 2020}}</ref> * International Society of Protistologists (previously the Society of Protozoologists)<ref>{{cite web |title=International Society of Protistologists |url=https://protistologists.org/ |website=International Society of Protistologists |access-date=25 December 2020}}</ref>

==Notable protistologists (sorted by alphabetical order of surnames) == The field of protistology was idealized by Haeckel, but its widespread recognition is more recent. In fact, many of the researchers cited below considered themselves as protozoologists, phycologists, mycologists, microbiologists, microscopists, parasitologists, limnologists, biologists, naturalists, zoologists, botanists, etc., but made significant contributions to the field.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Commonscat-inline}} *[http://protozoa.uga.edu/portal/portal.html Portal to protistology] by the [http://protozoa.uga.edu/ International Society of Protistologists]

. . Category:Branches of biology