Compare Amoeba & Sporozoan Life Cycles
Amoebae and sporozoa are both classified under the subkingdom protozoa. Despite their anatomical similarities, however, they took divergent evolutionary paths and came to rely upon different lifestyles. The amoeba feeds like many other single-celled protozoans, but the sporozoan adopted a parasitic lifestyle.
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Amoeba
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The amoeba is a genus of protozoan that includes species such as Amoeba proteus. It is classified as a eukaryote because it has a complex cellular structures such as a nucleus. One species can grow up to a millimeter in length, but most are only about 700 to 800 micrometers (1 millionth of a meter).
Sporozoan
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The sporozoan is classified as a taxonomic phylum that encompasses a wide number of species. Like the amoeba it is a eukaryote, but it also has a unique organelle called an apicoplast that is used to penetrate a host cell. Its life cycle is complex, and it is a casual agent in many debilitating diseases.
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Cellular Division
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Single-celled organisms reproduce asexually by duplicating DNA and then dividing into two daughter cells. Eukaryotes, including the cells of all plants and animals, undergo a type of asexual reproduction called mitosis in which chromosomes are separated before dividing, or cytokinesis, in which a parent cell produces two daughter cells but also retains its original form. According to the University of British Columbia, one sporozoan cell undergoes multiple rounds of mitosis without cytokinesis followed by multiple cleavage to produce a set of progeny cells.
Amoeba Life Cycle
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Like most single-celled organisms, the amoeba steadily grows and moves about its environment independently. In the microscopic world it is a predator. It consumes food by a process called phagocytosis, in which it changes shape and then reassembles itself. Once the food is engulfed, it is disintegrated within the cell membrane, and organelles called vacuoles are tasked with digesting and storing it.
Sporozoan Life Cycle
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Sporozoans, on the other hand, are very different. They are parasites, feeding on the cells and body fluids of a main organism during their life cycle, which typically begins in an intermediate organism first. Malaria is the best known sporozoan. When it divides inside a mosquito, it produces a huge number of spores that are transferred to a human once bitten. These spores infect liver cells first and then red blood cells. With the sporozoans back in the blood, they can transfer to a mosquito once more and grow to maturity.
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