Protozoa are single-celled eukaryotic organisms, traditionally grouped together as motile, heterotrophic protists, that occupy a vast range of habitats including soil, freshwater, marine environments, and the bodies of plants and animals. Although informal rather than a single natural taxonomic group, the term encom…
Protozoa are single-celled eukaryotic organisms, traditionally grouped together as motile, heterotrophic protists, that occupy a vast range of habitats including soil, freshwater, marine environments, and the bodies of plants and animals. Although informal rather than a single natural taxonomic group, the term encompasses diverse lineages distinguished by their modes of locomotion and feeding, such as flagellates, ciliates, amoeboid forms, and the apicomplexans, many of which are obligate parasites. Protozoa play important ecological roles as consumers of bacteria and as components of food webs and nutrient cycling, and they are valuable model organisms in cell biology. Of particular significance to human and animal health are the parasitic protozoa, which cause a wide spectrum of infectious diseases. Intestinal protozoa are a major source of gastrointestinal infection, transmitted largely through contaminated water and food, and they contribute substantially to morbidity, especially among children and in resource-limited settings, as shown by epidemiological surveys of intestinal protozoan and parasite infection and studies of prevalence among schoolchildren. Their life cycles frequently involve resistant cyst stages that facilitate transmission and complicate control. Research on protozoa addresses their taxonomy, cell biology, life cycles, epidemiology, diagnosis, drug resistance, and treatment, as well as water-sanitation strategies to combat waterborne disease, integrating microbiology, parasitology, and public health.
6 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
The 6 articles above have been cited 42 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Protozoa, linking to each citing work.