Question

Describe the process of nutrition in amoeba with the help of diagram.

Answer 1

Nutrition in Amoeba:

1. Amoeba does not have any specialized organ for nutrition.
2. The entire process is carried through the body surface with the help of pseudopodia.
3. Nutrition in an Amoeba occurs through a process called phagocytosis.
4. Phagocytosis is the process by which the food is engulfed by the organism.
5. The mode of nutrition in amoeba is known as holozoic nutrition.
6. It involves the ingestion, digestion and egestion of food material.

Holozoic nutrition:

Ingestion

1. Ingestion is the process of taking in the food into the body either by swallowing or absorbing it.
2. Amoeba pushes out the pseudopodia to encircle the food and engulfs it forming a food vacuole.

Digestion

1. In amoeba, the food vacuoles are transported deeper into the cell and with the help of the digestive enzymes, the large insoluble particles are broken down to the simplest molecules.

Absorption

1. In this process of absorption, the nutrients from the digested food material are absorbed into the cell’s cytoplasm by leaving behind the undigested particles. This process is called diffusion.
2. The excess food is stored in the form of glycogen and lipids.

Assimilation

1. Assimilation is the process of obtaining energy from the absorbed food molecules.
2. In amoeba, absorbed food molecules are utilized for producing the energy required to carry out different life processes within the cell.

Egestion

1. Egestion is the process of excretion of undigested food material.
2. In amoeba, this process is carried out by rupturing the cell membrane to remove the undigested food material from its body.