Question

The external coverings of diatoms are made up of , while slime molds have cell walls containing . Diatoms are because they make food through photosynthesis, while slime molds are because they eat decaying plant matter.

Answer 1

Answers;

-Frustule

-Autotrophic

-Heterotrophic

The external coverings of diatoms are made up of frustule , while slime molds have cell walls containing cellulose . Diatoms are autotrophic because they make food through photosynthesis, while slime molds are heterotrophic because they eat decaying plant matter.

Explanation;

• Diatoms are tiny single-celled algae that are covered with glass like shells made of silica. Slime molds on the other hand are fungus-like protists that re heterotrophic like protozoa in the kingdom protista.
• Diatoms are food producer or autotrophs while the slime are consumers or heterotrophs and depend on the product produced by the primary producer such as plants, diatoms etc.
• Diatom can carry out photosynthesis while the slime mold can not carry out the process of photosynthesis but are decomposers.
• Slime molds are fungus like protists and have both plant and animal like characteristics while diatoms have only plant like characteristics.
• The external coverings of diatoms are made up of frustule, while slime molds have cell walls containing cellulose

Answer 2

The external coverings of diatoms are made up of frustule which contains chloroplasts. Chloroplast is a organelle that has chlorophyll pigment that captures light energy from the sun and utilize it for photosynthesis. Slime molds comes under category of fungi. Their cell wall is made up of cellulose. They undergo spore formation, their spore sac get rupture as cellulosic layer is light and releases spores which settles on the decaying plant matter.