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''Amoeba proteus'' is a large species of amoeba closely related to another genus of giant amoebae, '' Chaos''. As such, the species is sometimes given the alternative scientific name ''Chaos diffluens''. This protozoan uses extensions called
pseudopodia A pseudopod or pseudopodium (plural: pseudopods or pseudopodia) is a temporary arm-like projection of a eukaryotic cell membrane that is emerged in the direction of movement. Filled with cytoplasm, pseudopodia primarily consist of actin filament ...
to move and to eat smaller unicellular organisms. Food is enveloped inside the cell's cytoplasm in a food vacuole, 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 their 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 Nucle ...
containing granular chromatin, and is therefore a
eukaryote Eukaryotes () are organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the three domains of life. Bacte ...
. Its membrane consists of a phospholipid bilayer similar to other eukaryotic organisms.


History

The first description of this amoeba is probably that of
August 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 termed Rösel's organism ''Chaos protheus'' in 1758.
Otto Friedrich Müller Otto Friedrich Müller, also known as Otto Friedrich Mueller (2 November 1730 – 26 December 1784) was a Danish naturalist and scientific illustrator. Biography Müller was born in Copenhagen. He was educated for the church, became tutor to a yo ...
referred to it as ''Proteus diffluens'' in 1786. In 1878, Joseph Leidy proposed the current name ''Amoeba proteus'' to describe Rösel's ''Proteus'', ''Proteus diffluens'', and another described amoeba ''Amoeba princeps''.


Molecular mechanisms regulating locomotion in Amoeba proteus

The locomotion of Amoeba proteus exhibits chaotic dynamics described by a low-dimensional chaotic attractor with a correlation dimension around 3-4, indicating that the seemingly random movement arises from deterministic cooperative interactions among a small number of processes like sol-gel transformations, cytoplasmic streaming, and calcium-mediated reactions. The Arp2/3 complex plays a crucial role in regulating actin polymerization and organization, localizing in the cortical actin network, discrete adhesion foci, and the perinuclear region. However, actin polymerization at the leading edge of migrating pseudopodia occurs independently of the Arp2/3 complex. During migration, changes in the ratio of filamentous actin (F-actin) to total actin correlate with the contractile state of the cell cortex, where an increasing F-actin/total actin ratio corresponds to isometric contraction, while a decreasing ratio indicates isotonic contraction associated with cytoskeleton disintegration. Furthermore, the Rac/PAK pathway is involved in regulating cell migration, with the PAK kinase MIHCK acting as an effector for the Rac-like protein, and inhibition of MIHCK disrupts normal migration and pseudopod formation, although it does not directly affect actin polymerization.


Reproduction

Although ''Amoeba proteus'' has most of the key proteins associated with sexual processes (as do other amoebae), no evidence of meiosis or sexual activity has been reported.


Video gallery


See also

* Amoeba * Amoebiasis


References

Tubulinea Articles containing video clips Taxa named by Peter Simon Pallas Taxa named by Joseph Leidy Protists described in 1766 Amoebozoa species {{Amoebozoa-stub