Nutrition in Amoeba

Nutrition in Amoeba

Nutrition in Amoeba:

Protozoan protests carry out holozoic nutrition through intracellular digestion.

(i) Ingestion:

Some protests can ingest food particle from any point on the surface (e.g., Amoeba) while others have fixed points for the same (e.g., Paramoecium). Protozoans like Amoeba capture food with the help of temporary finger-like processes called pseudopodia. Protozoans like (Paramoecium have small hair-like processes called cilia.) Beating of cilia creates current in water that pushes food particle through cytostome or cell mouth. The process of ingestion of solid food particle by a cell or unicellular organism is called phagocytosis.





As soon as Amoeba comes in contact with a food particle or prey, it throws pseudopodia all around the same. The tips of encircling pseudopodia fuse and the prey comes to lie in a vesicle or phagosome. This method of intake of food is called circumvallation. Amoeba can also ingest food by other methods like import, circumfluence and invagination.