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''Amoeba proteus'' is a large species of 
This protozoan uses extensions called pseudopodia to move and to eat smaller unicellular organisms. Food is enveloped inside the cell's
amoeba
An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; plural ''am(o)ebas'' or ''am(o)ebae'' ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by extending and retracting pseudop ...
closely related to another genus of giant amoebae, ''Chaos
Chaos or CHAOS may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional elements
* Chaos (''Kinnikuman'')
* Chaos (''Sailor Moon'')
* Chaos (''Sesame Park'')
* Chaos (''Warhammer'')
* Chaos, in ''Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy''
* Cha ...
''. As such, the species is sometimes given the alternative scientific name ''Chaos diffluens''.
This protozoan uses extensions called pseudopodia to move and to eat smaller unicellular organisms. Food is enveloped inside the cell's cytoplasm
In cell biology, the cytoplasm is all of the material within a eukaryotic cell, enclosed by the cell membrane, except for the cell nucleus. The material inside the nucleus and contained within the nuclear membrane is termed the nucleoplasm. ...
in a food vacuole
A vacuole () is a membrane-bound organelle which is present in plant and fungal cells and some protist, animal, and bacterial cells. Vacuoles are essentially enclosed compartments which are filled with water containing inorganic and organic m ...
, where ingested matter is slowly broken down by enzymes. ''A. proteus'' inhabits freshwater environments and feeds on protozoans, algae, rotifers, and even other smaller amoebae. They are colorless, but they may have colored inclusions derived from its food.
''A. proteus'' possesses a thick-walled nucleus
Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to:
*Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom
* Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA
Nucl ...
containing granular chromatin
Chromatin is a complex of DNA and protein found in eukaryotic cells. The primary function is to package long DNA molecules into more compact, denser structures. This prevents the strands from becoming tangled and also plays important roles in r ...
, and is therefore a eukaryote. Its membrane
A membrane is a selective barrier; it allows some things to pass through but stops others. Such things may be molecules, ions, or other small particles. Membranes can be generally classified into synthetic membranes and biological membranes. B ...
includes a phospholipid bilayer similar to other eukaryotic organisms.
History
The first description of this amoeba is probably that ofAugust Johann Rösel von Rosenhof
August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof (March 30, 1705 in Augustenburg near Arnstadt – March 27, 1759 in Nuremberg) was a German miniature painter, naturalist and entomologist. With his accurate, heavily detailed images of insects he was reco ...
who, in 1755, published drawings of an amoeboid protozoan he called the "little Proteus". Subsequently, various authors assigned Rösel's organism and other amoeboid protozoa various names: Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
termed Rösel's organism ''Chaos protheus'' in 1758. Otto Friedrich Müller referred to it as ''Proteus diffluens'' in 1786. In 1878, Joseph Leidy
Joseph Mellick Leidy (September 9, 1823 – April 30, 1891) was an American paleontologist, parasitologist and anatomist.
Leidy was professor of anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania, later was a professor of natural history at Swarthmore ...
proposed the current name ''Amoeba proteus'' to describe Rösel's ''Proteus'', ''Proteus diffluens'', and another described amoeba ''Amoeba princeps''.
Reproduction
Although ''Amoeba proteus'' has most of the key proteins associated withsexual
Sex is the biological distinction of an organism between male and female.
Sex or SEX may also refer to:
Biology and behaviour
*Animal sexual behaviour
**Copulation (zoology)
**Human sexual activity
**Non-penetrative sex, or sexual outercourse
** ...
processes (as do other amoebae), no evidence of meiosis or sexual activity has been reported.
Video gallery
See also
*Amoeba
An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; plural ''am(o)ebas'' or ''am(o)ebae'' ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by extending and retracting pseudop ...
*Amoebiasis
Amoebiasis, or amoebic dysentery, is an infection of the intestines caused by a parasitic amoeba '' Entamoeba histolytica''. Amoebiasis can be present with no, mild, or severe symptoms. Symptoms may include lethargy, loss of weight, colonic ...
References
Tubulinea Articles containing video clips Taxa named by Peter Simon Pallas Taxa named by Joseph Leidy {{Amoebozoa-stub