Amoeba “farmers”

2011/01/20 Kortabitarte Egiguren, Irati - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Zoologia

Researchers at Rice University in Texas discover that the amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, which lives in forest lands, acts as "peasant."

These amoeba feed on bacteria. And, in some circumstances, they decide not to eat all the bacteria in the medium and pick them up and transport them to a new place where they grow. A third of the amoebas analyzed in this study have shown this “peasant” behavior.

This behavior was known in some animals as termites or ants. But it is the first time they find amoebas. The journal Nature has released this study.

Image courtesy of: Owen Gilbert