What is an Amoeba?
An amoeba is a prototypical genus of unicellular organism found in decaying vegetation, wet soil, and animals such as humans. The amoeba is a relatively advanced form of unicellular organism. Amoebas are able to extend and remit their cytoplasm, or internal fluids, and form blob-like arms called pseudopodia. They use these to grasp food particles and propel themselves through microscopic terrain. Although the most famous amoeba species, Amoeba proteus, is about 700 microns in diameter, the larger Amoeba dubia can be as large as a millimeter in diameter and visible to the naked eye. The amoeba was first discovered by August von Rosenhof in 1755, using an early microscope. The amoeba is a popular organism for testing and observation by scientists, called a “model organism.” Other model organisms include fruit flies and lab mice. The amoeba is useful as a model organism because its relative largeness allows it to be seen using a basic light microscope, and its mobility and complexity make
An amoeba, sometimes written as “ameba”, is a term generally used to describe a single celled eukaryotic organism that has no definate shape and that moves by means of pseudopodia. Pseudopodia or pseudopods are temporary projections of the cell and the word literally means “false feet”. The cell uses the pseudopodia as a means of locomotion. The plural of amoeba is “amoebae”, not “amoebas”. Although the word “amoeba” or “amoeboid” is often used to refer to all protozoa that move using pseudopodia, the word Amoeba (written in italics and with a capital letter) refers to a specific genus of protozoa of which Amoeba proteus is the best-know species. The cytoplasm of an amoeba contains the organelles and is enclosed by a cell membrane. An amoeba uses a process called phagoctyosis to obtain food. This is a process in which projections of the cell membrane of the amoeba extend and surround the food particle, totally enclosing it. The food particle is thus internalized in a sort of “bubble” c
