Amoeba Diagram - Classification & Structure

Amoeba is termed to be a unicellular organism that is made up of single cell. This organism engulfs and digest tiny particles of food. It digests food with the presence of a special finger-like structure that is located in the amoeba and is called pseudopodia. This pseudopodia is also known as the “false feet ''. Due to the presence of pseudopodia, amoeba possesses the ability to change its shape. These organisms are found near water bodies. The water bodies can be lakes and ponds. They may also be present in rivers and other freshwater surfaces. The amoeba in scientific language is called the “Amoeba Proteus' '. It is placed in the family Amoebidae. The amoeba possesses the ability to replicate. This organism duplicates itself with the help of a process of asexual reproduction that is termed to be as the binary fission. According to the first report that was presented, references of amoebas can be found in the 18th century. A German naturalist who is named as August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof discovered the very first specimen and provided detailed explanations of the amoeba in 1755.The plasma membrane of amoeba is found to be very thin. This membrane is a double layer membrane that is composed of protein and contains some lipid molecules.

What is Amoeba?

Amoeba is found to be a unicellular organism that is made up of a single cell and that can only be seen by microscope. This organism is not visible with the help of the naked eyes. It is usually a eukaryotic organism that shows presence of true organelles and a nuclear envelope. This organism moves with the help of false feet that is termed as the pseudopodia. The pseudopodia is defined as the cytoplasm pushing off the cell membrane.Very important the feature of the amoeba is to change its shape.

Structure of Amoeba

• Movement in the amoeba takes place with the help of a false feet that is known as pseudopodia so it changes its shape.

• Structure and body of Amoeba is divided into three different parts namely cytoplasm, plasma membrane , and nucleus.

• The cytoplasm of the amoeba is further divided into two layers that are known as the outer ectoplasm and inner endoplasm.

• The plasma membrane of amoeba is observed to be very thin This layer is a double layer membrane that is composed of protein. It is made up of lipid molecules.

• When we talk about other cellular organelles, amoeba possess contractile vacuoles, mitochondria , Golgi apparatus and some of the fat globules.

• Contractile vacuole helps in maintaining the osmotic equilibrium. This process is played by separating out most of the water from the cell.

Diagram of Amoeba

Size of Amoeba

Amoeba is present in different forms in both size and shape. When the earliest animals were found it was found to be 400 to 600 micrometers in size.

There are many different sizes of amoeba that range between small to large size that is 2-3 nanometer in size to exceptionally large such as 20 cm amoeba. The body of the amoeba is found to be transparent and looks like a gelatin.

Amoeba classification

All the discussion of the amoeba from which domain and phylum it belongs to it is defined here:

Domain : Eukaryota (True cells)

Kingdom : Amoebozoa

Phylum : Tubulinea

Order : Tubulinida

Family : Amoebidae

Genus : Amoeba

Species : many different species such as Proteus and animacule.

Nowadays, study has been done on classifying the amoeba. This classification is done on the basis of the subunit that is located in their ribosomal RNA. Sarcodina is defined to be the most preferable form of the amoeba. It is found to be the single most accepted taxonomic group that is presented to the classification of the amoeba cell. It is divided on the basis of its observable character.

Reproduction in amoeba :

Binary fission

It is defined as a mode of reproduction in which the whole body of the amoeba divides into two daughter cells by the help of mitosis .The division here involves the nuclear division that is called as karyokinesis and cytoplasmic division that is termed as a cytokinesis.

Spore formation :

When there comes the Unfavorable conditions then at this stage the amoeba divides by the process that is termed as the spore formation. It now starts breaking its nuclear membrane. This is the stage at which some of the chromatin blocks get released into the cytoplasm. Each chromatin block now gets inside a nuclear membrane and becomes a small daughter nuclei.

Mode of nutrition:

There Are usually five stages in the mode of nutrition

Ingestion :

In amoeba this is the most common method that amoeba is used to make the food digest inside its body. They do this process by engulfing the food material. This technique of food intake is known as ingestion. Now the food particle fuses with the pseudopodia and this process is known as phagocytosis.

Digestion :

In this process the insoluble and used food particles are processed and converted into the minute particles. This process is termed to be digestion. To perform this process it makes use of the lysosome which helps to convert the food material.

Absorption:

Now supplements and nutrients of food are consumed. At this stage the undigested particles are kept behind and removed . This process is termed to be the absorption.

Assimilation:

This is defined as the process with the help of which the amoeba obtains and derives energy from the food.

Egestion :

This is the process by which the amoeba excretes out the undigested food.