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Related Concept Videos

Diversity of Protists IV01:27

Diversity of Protists IV

Amoebozoa represent a diverse group of terrestrial and aquatic protists that utilize lobe-shaped pseudopodia for locomotion and feeding. This characteristic differentiates them from the Rhizaria, which possess threadlike pseudopodia. The primary classifications within Amoebozoa include gymnamoebas, entamoebas, and the plasmodial and cellular slime molds. Phylogenetic evidence indicates that Amoebozoa diverged from a lineage that ultimately gave rise to fungi and animals.Gymnamoebas and...
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Diversity of Protists II

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 7, 2026

Quantification of Acanthamoeba spp. Motility
07:33

Quantification of Acanthamoeba spp. Motility

Published on: September 20, 2024

How do amoebae swim and crawl?

Jonathan D Howe1, Nicholas P Barry, Mark S Bretscher

  • 1Cell Biology Division, Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom.

Plos One
|September 17, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Amoebae do not exhibit surface membrane flow during movement. Instead, these single-celled organisms swim using shape changes, challenging previous theories of membrane trafficking.

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Last Updated: May 7, 2026

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Quantitative Locomotion Study of Freely Swimming Micro-organisms Using Laser Diffraction
10:03

Quantitative Locomotion Study of Freely Swimming Micro-organisms Using Laser Diffraction

Published on: October 25, 2012

Area of Science:

  • Cell Biology
  • Biophysics
  • Microbiology

Background:

  • Understanding the mechanisms of cell motility is crucial in biology.
  • Previous hypotheses suggested a front-to-rear surface membrane flow in moving amoebae.
  • This proposed flow was thought to facilitate force generation against the medium.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the surface behavior of swimming and crawling amoebae.
  • To determine if a polarized membrane trafficking cycle, involving surface flow, occurs in amoebae.
  • To elucidate the mechanism by which amoebae generate force for locomotion.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a photoactivatable-GFP (paGFP) tagged cyclic AMP receptor (cAR1) in amoebae.
  • Tracked the movement of activated cAR1-paGFP on the cell surface in both free-swimming and substrate-attached cells.
  • Observed the behavior of labeled surface regions and cell projections during directed cell movement.

Main Results:

  • The cAR1-paGFP label remained stationary in the cell's frame of reference, not being swept rearwards.
  • Lateral cell projections moved rearwards relative to the cell surface, detaching from the labeled region.
  • Amoebae exhibited straight-line movement, suggesting a lack of dependence on snaking motions.

Conclusions:

  • The results refute the hypothesis of a front-to-rear surface membrane flow in moving amoebae.
  • Amoeboid locomotion is likely achieved through cell shape changes rather than surface membrane flow.
  • This finding necessitates a re-evaluation of force generation mechanisms in amoebae.