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Protist Cell Structure and Metabolic Diversity

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Protist cells range from microscopic to enormous and multinucleate, and use every metabolic strategy: photoautotrophy, heterotrophy, and mixotrophy, switching as conditions change.

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Euglena photosynthesizes in light but absorbs nutrients in darkness, a mixotroph switching strategy as its environment changes.

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A single protist species can shift metabolic strategy within its lifetime — metabolism is not always fixed by species alone.