General characteristics of peramecium and amoeba options type 2 questions
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Answer: Amoeba and paramecium are single-celled eukaryotes which belong to the Kingdom Protista. Both amoeba and paramecium are heterotrophs, which exhibit unique feeding mechanisms. There are many similarities between amoeba and paramecium; however, there are also some notable differences between them. The main difference between amoeba and paramecium is that amoeba moves by pseudopodia while paramecium moves with the use of thin, hair-like structures called cilia. Amoeba is a unicellular eukaryote living in fresh water ponds and wet soil. It also lives as a parasite inside animal bodies. Amoeba is irregular in shape and has a diameter of 0.1 mm. The cell membrane of the amoeba comprises an outer and an inner endoplasm. Amoeba cell contains a membrane-bound nucleus, food vacuoles and contractile vacuoles in its single-celled body. The propagation of amoeba occurs by forwarding its cytoplasm. The formation of pseudopodium allows amoeba to move slowly. The pseudopodium is also called a false foot. This movement is referred to as amoeboid movement. Typically, amoeba eats bacteria, algae, plant cells, and other microscopic organisms. The process of feeding is referred to as phagocytosis in which pseudopodia is formed to engulf the food particle. The engulfed food is digested inside a vacuole in the body and wastes are eliminated by exocytosis.
Amoeba reproduces asexually by binary fission and formation of spores. Under favorable conditions, binary fission produces daughter cells by mitotic cell divisions of a parent cell. Spores are formed in dry conditions and during insufficiency of food and those spores are germinated under favorable conditions. Amoeba is sensitive to external stimuli such as the change in light, temperature, and chemicals. It is also sensitive to touch. Amoeba is shown in figure 1.
What is Paramecium
Paramecium is another unicellular eukaryote, which lives in fresh water and decaying organic matter. It has a slipper-like shape with a length of 0.3 mm. The outer surface of the paramecium is covered by cilia. A paramecium cell contains a large macronucleus and a micronucleus with food vacuole and contractile vacuoles. An oral groove is found on one side of the organism, which forms the gullet, ending with a cytostome. The swim-like locomotion occurs by the beatings of cilia in water. The forward movement is achieved by the backward beats of cilia and the backward movement is achieved by the forward beats of cilia. The cilia are also involved in feeding by moving food into the gullet. The ingested food is digested inside a vacuole and the wastes are eliminated through the anal pore. Paramecium asexually reproduces by binary fission under favorable conditions. Under unfavorable conditions, paramecium reproduces sexually by conjugation. Paramecium is also sensitive to changes in the environment such as temperature, light, chemicals, as well as touch.