Question

Is Euglena a plant or animal?

Answer 1

Euglena:

1. Euglena is a type of euglenoid belonging to the kingdom Protista.
2. Euglenoids are unicellular microorganisms having a flexible body.
3. They have plastids and can perform photosynthesis in light, but move around in search of food using their flagellum in the absence of light.
4. Thus, they have characters of both plants and animals.
5. The heterotrophic species of Euglena can either absorb organic compounds from the surrounding water or engulf bacteria and protists by phagocytosis within the food vacuoles.
6. Euglena contains chloroplast which possesses chlorophyll. These chloroplasts are said to have a green algal origin and seemed to have been acquired due to an endosymbiotic relationship.
7. Since it can show both autotrophic and heterotrophic(saprotrophic) modes of nutrition, they are referred to as mixotrophic.