All protists are ________.

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Question restated: All protists are ________. Options: a) unicellular, b) monophyletic, c) symbionts, d) eukaryotic, e) mixotrophic.
Option a: unicellular. While many protists are unicellular, this is not universal. Some protists form colonies or are multicellular at certain life stages, so this statement is too restrictive to be a defining feature of all protists. Therefore this is incorrect as an absolute claim.
Option b: monophyletic. The group Protista is historically paraphyletic because it excludes some descendants of a common ancestor (e.g., plants, animals, fungi) and contains multiple lineages with distinct evolutionary histories. Hence, protists are not monophyletic as a single clade, making this option false as a universal property.
Option c: symbionts. While some protists participate as symbionts in various relationships, many protists are free-living and do not engage in symbiosis. Therefore labeling all protists as symbionts is inaccurate.
Option d: eukaryotic. Protists are defined as eukaryotes that are not plants, fungi, or animals. They possess a true nucleus and membrane-bound organelles, which is the core characteristic of eukaryotes. This trait accurately describes all organisms in the group commonly called protists, making this option correct.
Option e: mixotrophic. Mixotrophy (combining photosynthesis and heterotrophy) occurs in some protists, but not universally across all protists. Therefore, this is not a universal attribute of all protists.
Summary: Each of the first, second, third, and fifth options fails to capture a universal trait of protists, whereas option d correctly identifies the shared cellular characteristic that unites protists as eukaryotes. The reasoning hinges on distinguishing universal features from diverse, non-defining traits across protist lineages.

All protists are ________.

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