Question

Digestion in amoeba mainly takes place in
A) Food vacuole
B) Cytoplasm
C) Water vacuole
D) None of the above

Answer 1

Hint:Digestion in Amoeba occurs by a process known as phagocytosis in which the entire food is engulfed by the organism and then digested inside the body. This process is carried out with the help of pseudopodia.

Complete answer:
Amoeba is a type of protozoa and all protozoa are believed to be the primitive ancestors of animals. Digestion in Amoeba mainly takes place in the food vacuole. Food vacuole is formed when food is engulfed through phagocytosis. These vacuoles are pushed deeper into the cytoplasm where they join with the lysosome to form secondary lysosomes. The secondary lysosome contains all the enzymes necessary to break the food particles. The process of food digestion in amoeba is known as holozoic nutrition and it consists of ingestion, digestion, absorption, assimilation, and egestion.

Additional information:
Ingestion: It is the process of taking food inside the body by swallowing or absorbing it known as phagocytosis. Food vacuole is formed by the ingestion of food.
Digestion: It is the process of breaking down the food into smaller components with the help of digestive enzymes.
Absorption: It is the process of absorbing the nutrients from digested food. The excess of food is then stored as glycogen or lipids.
Assimilation: It is the process of complete oxidation of the food to obtain energy.
Egestion: It is the process of excreting the undigested food material out of the cell.

Hence, the correct answer is option ‘A i.e, ‘Food vacuole’.

Note:
-Amoeba belongs to amoeboid protozoans which also contains parasitic members like Entamoeba which is responsible for causing amoebic dysentery.
-Pinocytosis is the process of absorbing liquid food inside the cell.
-Contractile vacuoles are responsible for osmoregulation as it pumps the water outside the cell in order to prevent the cell from bursting.