Ameba Proteus: class, habitat, photo. How does the amoeba proteus move?

Animals, like all organisms, are at different levels of the organization. One of them is cellular, and its typical representatives are amoeba proteus. Features of its structure and vital activity will be considered in more detail.

Sub-kingdom Unicellular

Despite the fact that this systematic group unites the most primitive animals, its species diversity already reaches 70 species. On the one hand, it is really the simplest arranged representatives of the animal world. On the other hand, these are simply unique structures. Just imagine: one, sometimes microscopic, cell is capable of carrying out all vital processes: breathing, movement, reproduction. Ameba Proteus (photo shows her image under a light microscope) is a typical representative of the sub-kingdom of the Protozoa. Its dimensions barely reach 20 μm.

Ameba Proteus: a class of the simplest animals

The very name of this animal indicates the level of its organization, since proteus means "simple." But is this animal so primitive? Amoeba proteus is a representative of a class of organisms that move through unstable outgrowths of the cytoplasm. Similarly, the colorless blood cells that form the human immunity move. They are called leukocytes. Their characteristic movement is called amoeboid.

In what environment does the amoeba proteus

This simple organism prefers to live in fresh and salt water bodies. The bogging conditions are especially favorable for him, since the decay process assumes the presence of a large number of bacteria that these protozoan organisms feed on. However, her dysenteric form feels comfortable in the lumen of the human intestine. At first glance it may seem that this is a parasitic appearance. But this opinion will be erroneous. Being in the intestine, it eats a variety of bacteria and does no harm to the person. But if the intestine is affected, the amoeba penetrates into the blood vessels and begins to eat red blood cells. In this case, ulcers form on the walls. Infectious dysentery amoeba can be consumed by using raw water, dirty vegetables and fruits.

Living in polluted water bodies amoeba proteus does no harm to anyone. This habitat is most suitable, because in it the simplest occupies an important role in the food chain.

Features of the structure

Ameba Proteus is the representative of the class, or rather the sub-kingdom of the Unicellular. Its size barely reaches 0.05 mm. With the naked eye, it can be seen in the form of a barely noticeable jelly-like lump. But all the main cell organelles will be visible only under a light microscope at a large magnification.

The superficial apparatus of the amoeba proteus is represented by a cell membrane, which has excellent elasticity. Inside is a semi-liquid content - the cytoplasm. She moves all the time, causing the formation of pseudopods. Amoeba is a eukaryotic animal. This means that its genetic material is enclosed in the nucleus.

Movement of protozoa

How does the amoeba proteus move? This occurs with the help of unstable outgrowths of the cytoplasm. It moves, forming a protrusion. And then the cytoplasm smoothly flows into the cell. The sprains are retracted and formed elsewhere. For this reason, the amoeba proteus does not have a permanent body shape.

Food

Amoeba proteus is capable of phage and pinocytosis. These are the processes of cell absorption of solid particles and liquids, respectively. It feeds on microscopic algae, bacteria and similar simplest organisms. Ameba Proteus (photo below shows the process of capturing food) surrounds them with her pseudopods. Next, the food is inside the cell. Around the digestive vacuole begins to form. Thanks to digestive enzymes, the particles are split, digested by the body, and the undigested residues are removed through the membrane. By phagocytosis, blood leukocytes destroy pathogenic particles that permeate the human body and animals every moment. If these cells did not protect organisms in this way, life would be practically impossible.

In addition to specialized organelles of nutrition, in the cytoplasm there may be inclusions. These are unstable cellular structures. They accumulate in the cytoplasm when there are necessary conditions for this. And they are expended when there is a vital need for this. This is the starch grains and the droplets of lipids.

Breath

Amoeba proteus, like all unicellular organisms, does not have specialized organelles for the process of breathing. It uses oxygen dissolved in water or other liquid, when it comes to amoebas that live in other organisms. Gas exchange occurs through the surface apparatus of the amoeba. The cell membrane is permeable to oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Reproduction

Amoeba is characterized by asexual reproduction. Namely division of a cell in two. This process is carried out only in the warm season. It occurs in several stages. First, the kernel is divided. It is stretched, divided by a waist. As a result, two identical ones form from one nucleus. The cytoplasm between them is broken. Its sections obosablivaetsya around the nuclei, forming two new cells. The contractile vacuole appears in one of them, and in the other its formation occurs anew. The division occurs by means of mitosis, so the daughter cells are an exact copy of the mother cells. The process of reproduction of amoeba occurs quite intensively: several times a day. So the life expectancy of each individual is very small.

Pressure regulation

Most amoeba live in an aquatic environment. A certain quantity of salts is dissolved in it. Much less of this substance in the cytoplasm is the simplest. Therefore, water must come from an area with a greater concentration of matter in the opposite direction. These are the laws of physics. In this case, the body of an amoeba would have to burst from an overabundance of moisture. But this does not happen due to the action of specialized contractile vacuoles. They remove excess water with salts dissolved in it. At the same time they provide homeostasis - maintaining the constancy of the internal environment of the body.

What is cyst

Amoeba Proteus, like other protozoa, has adapted in a special way to experiencing unfavorable conditions. Her cell ceases to feed, the intensity of all life processes decreases, the metabolism stops. Amoeba ceases to share. It is covered with a dense shell and in this form carries an unfavorable period of any duration. This periodically occurs every fall, and with the onset of heat, the unicellular organism begins to breathe intensively, eat and multiply. The same can happen in the warm season with the onset of a drought. The formation of cysts has one more meaning. It consists in the fact that in such a state the amoeba carries the wind over considerable distances, settling this biological species.

Irritability

Of course, these simple single-celled speech do not go into the nervous system, because their body consists of only one cell. However, this property of all living organisms in amoeba protey manifests itself in the form of taxis. This term means a response to the action of stimuli of various kinds. They can be positive. For example, the amoeba is clearly moving towards food objects. This phenomenon can in fact be compared with animal reflexes. Examples of negative taxis is the movement of the amoeba proteus from bright light, from the area of increased salinity or mechanical stimuli. This ability primarily has a protective value.

So, ameba proteus is a typical representative of the sub-kingdom of the Protozoa or Single-celled. This group of animals is the most primitively arranged. Their body consists of one cell, but it is able to perform the functions of the whole body: breathe, eat, multiply, move, react to irritations and unfavorable environmental conditions. Amoeba Proteus is a part of the ecosystems of fresh and salt water bodies, but it is also able to inhabit other organisms. In nature, it is a participant in the cycle of substances and the most important link in the food chain, being the basis of the plankton of many reservoirs.