Question

What is nutrition? Describe nutrition in amoeba. (Draw Diagram)

Answer 1

Hint: Nutrition in amoeba is done by phagocytosis i.e., by formation of pseudopodia around the food particle to engulf it and it is done in 5 steps.

Complete answer:
Nutrition is the process for providing or obtaining the food in order to perform functions properly and for the development, growth and health. It provides energy to perform life processes. Food and drink provides basic nutrients you need to be healthy.

In amoeba, nutrition occurs through a process which is called phagocytosis. Phagocytosis is a process by which a cell uses its membrane and by using this it engulfs the particles in the form of food. Amoeba uses this process where it's membrane helps to engulf the food particles. The mode of nutrition in amoeba is holozoic. Holozoic nutrition is a type of nutrition in which organisms eat solid food and that food can be plant or animal product.

This nutrition takes place in following steps-
> Ingestion: It is a process of intake of the food into the body but the amoeba is a unicellular organisms and therefore it does not have mouth for intake of the food therefore amoeba takes up the food by making pseudopodia (finger like projections) around the food particle as shown in the diagram. Pseudopodia is made to engulf the food particle as it makes food vacuole around the food particle and then that vacuole is taken inside.

> Digestion: It is a process of digesting the food or you can say it is a process where there is breakdown of insoluble or large food particles into the soluble and small particles so that it can get digested easily. In amoeba, this food particle is broken down into smaller particles with the help of digestive enzymes as these particles are transported deeper into the cell.

> Absorption: It is a process where the digested particles finally get absorbed in the cytoplasm of the cell and this is done by the process of diffusion. All the particles which are unabsorbed, they are left behind in the vacuole.

> Assimilation: The absorbed food gets converted into the energy which is required to carry out different life processes within the cell.

> Egestion: In this process all the waste or undigested foods gets excreted and in amoeba is done by the rupture of cell membrane in order to remove the undigested food material from the body.
All the steps are shown in the diagram and it is really easy to draw.

Note: Amoeba takes the food with the help of pseudopodia around the food particle to engulf it and after engulfing the particles, digestion and absorption of the food occurs. Afterwards, the absorbed food which is required gets converted into the energy and the undigested one is carried out by rupturing the cell membrane.