Amoeba Diagram & Characteristics

Amoeba Diagram & Characteristics

Edited By Irshad Anwar | Updated on Nov 28, 2024 03:57 PM IST

Amoeba is a fascinating unicellular organism widely studied in biology, especially in school syllabi from class 7 to NEET preparation. Amoebas are members of the Protista kingdom, known for their unique, simple structure and remarkable adaptability to various environments. They play a vital role in biological processes, such as nutrition and reproduction. Understanding the amoeba diagram is crucial for students as it offers insights into biology, which is an important topic from class 9 to NEET level. This article will focus on the amoeba's structure, nutrition, and reproduction using binary fission, supported by diagrams and essential FAQs for students across class 7 to NEET level.

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

  • Domain: Eukaryota (True cells)
  • Kingdom: Amoebozoa
  • Phylum: Tubulinea
  • Class: Lobosa
  • Order: Tubulinida
  • Family: Amoebidae
  • Genus: Amoeba
  • Species: many different species such as Proteus and animacule.

Nowadays, studies have 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.

Well-Labelled Diagram of Amoeba

An amoeba's body is irregular in shape and covered by a plasma membrane. It has two parts to its cytoplasm: the outer part is called the ectoplasm and the inner part is called the endoplasm. The main organelles found inside its cytoplasm include the nucleus, contractile vacuole, and food vacuoles.

Amoeba Structure

Structure of Amoeba

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

  • The structure and body of Amoeba are 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.

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

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 a microscope. This organism is not visible with the help of the naked eye. It is usually a eukaryotic organism that shows the presence of true organelles and a nuclear envelope. This organism moves with the help of false feet which is termed as the pseudopodia. The pseudopodia is defined as the cytoplasm pushing off the cell membrane. A very important feature of the amoeba is to change its shape.

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 from small to large size that is 2-3 nanometers in size to exceptionally large such as 20 cm amoeba. The body of the amoeba is found to be transparent and looks like gelatin.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Do amoeba possess the capacity of Fragmentation?

Fragmentation is defined as the process in which the organism's lost part behaves as a new organism. Yes , Amoeba has the capacity for fragmentation. When an amoeba is cut down into two pieces then its both parts behave as individual cells.

2. How do amoeba structures help to get its finer details?

Amoeba is considered to be an important cell. The reason behind this is that it produces two daughter cells which are exact replicas of the amoeba. The structure of amoeba helps to provide details about its microscopic structure.

3. What are the effects shown by amoeba?

There are different effects shown by amoeba on the natural environment :

It plays a  very amazing role in regulating the amount of algae in the environment by feeding on them.

It is a very important organism effective in regulating the amount and quality of bacteria which causes the disbalance of algae.

This plays a major role to clean the environment and balance the environment.

4. Amoeba is considered a unicellular or multicellular organism?

Amoeba is found out to be a unicellular organism. The reason behind is that it is made up of only a single type of cell.

5. How do amoeba obtain its nourishment?

Amoeba obtains its nourishment by help of a process called phagocytosis. It obtains its food with help of false feet called as pseudopodia

6. What is the structure of amoeba?

An irregular shape that, thanks to pseudopodia, helps in moving around and catching food accounts for the amoeba's morphology. The plasma membrane, cytoplasm with the division into ectoplasm and endoplasm, a nucleus, a contractile vacuole for osmoregulation, and food vacuoles for digestion also account for its morphology.

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