Question

Give the simple mechanism of amoeba movement.

Answer 1

Hint: Amoeboid movement is the most common mode of locomotion in prokaryotic cells. It is a crawling-like type of movement. Amoeba propels itself by changing its structure. The typical type of movement that an Amoeba exhibits is also called the pseudopodial locomotion of “amoeba-like movement”.

Complete answer:
The scientific name of the most common Amoeba is the species Amoeba proteus. An amoeba propels itself by changing its body structure. Normally, it’s the cytoplasm, and its changes in composition are the reasons that aid in the locomotion of the organism. Amoeba extends the sides of its body to form the special structures known as pseudopodia, that enable it to “drag” itself.
A crawling-like type of movement in which the cell forms provisional cytoplasmic projections called pseudopodia (false feet) towards the front of the cell.
This type of movement is seen in amoebae (e.g. Amoeba proteus).
Their cytoplasm consists of the plasmasol (central fluid) neighboured by a more viscous plasma gel. The plasma gel is then converted to plasmasol resulting in the cytoplasm to slide and form a pseudopodium in front to move the cell in forwarding direction.
Cells that move this way are called amoeboids. Apart from amoeba, other examples are cellular slime moulds (e.g. Dictyostelium discoideum), and human cells, particularly immune cells like Kupffer cells of the liver, monocytes, neutrophils, macrophages, and cancerous cells.

Note:
This type of locomotion is also called pseudopodial locomotion. Here the locomotion is brought about by the pseudopodia. It is the characteristic of rhizopoda protozoa like Amoeba proteus and Entamoeba histolytica.