Question

Explain the process of digestion in Amoeba with a diagram.

Answer 1

Amoeba shows the holozoic mode of nutrition which involves the following given processes-

Ingestion:

1. In the process of ingestion, the food is taken into the body by swallowing.
2. Amoeba forms a food vacuole by using their false feet (pseudopodia) and engulfing the food.
3. Thus, the process of engulfing the food is termed phagocytosis.

Digestion:

1. The process of breakdown of insoluble food materials into smaller particles by the action of enzymes is called digestion.
2. In the case of Amoeba, the food vacuoles go deeper into the cells where enzymes act upon the food materials and convert them into smaller ones.

Absorption:

1. Absorption is the process of diffusion of digested food particles into the cells.
2. Cells store the excess food in the form of lipids and glycogen.

Assimilation:

1. Absorbed food materials provide energy which is termed as assimilation.
2. Amoeba utilizes the food and gains energy that is required to perform all the life processes by its cell.

Egestion:

1. Egestion is the process of eliminating all the undigested food materials from the body cells.
2. In Amoeba, this process is completed by the rupturing of the plasma membrane and thus the undigested food is removed from the body.

Figure showing digestion in Amoeba: