Nutrition :
Amoeba is omnivorous and holozoic. It’s food includes Bacteria, Diatoms, Algae, Dead organic material & other protozoans.
Ingestion :
Taking in of the food is called ingestion. It may occur at any place on the amoeba surface. Amoeba exhibits four methods of ingestion viz –
- Circumvallation : This method is used to ingest active food (motile food) with the help of pseudopodia. Their is formation of large food cup and food vacuole.
- Circumfluence : This method is used to ingest inactive or non-motile food with the help of pseudopodia. Comparatively small food cup and food vacuoles are formed.
- Import : In this method of ingestion, the food directly enters into the cytoplasm on contact with plasmalemma. It is also used to ingest food like algae. Later on. the food vacuole develops around the food.
- Invagination : In this method of ingestion, the plasma-lemma at the point of contact of food in pushes to form a tube inside the cytoplasm. The food enters through this food tube. A food vacuole develops at the inner end of the food tube.
