A single frame from the movie (CIL:20154) that shows a large rounded monkey kidney cell being penetrated by a pseudopodia followed by the whole Balamuthia ameba. Detection of the ameba within, rather than on, or beneath the cell is indicated by the change in clarity of the ameba outside and then inside the cell's exterior membrane. The ameba with splayed pseudopodia had begun to enter in apparently a slit in the surface of the cell. The integrity of the cell is maintained and its size does not change appreciably. The portion of the ameba within the cell is less clear than that portion still outside, and as it continues movement within the cell that continues until only a small portion (tail) of the ameba remains outside. Photographed at 1200X. Additional photographs (grouped with this movie) show the movement of the ameba inside of the cell its movement deforms the rounded exterior membrane before the whole ameba emerges some 20 minutes later.
Biological Process: Pseudopodium organization, Pseudopodium assembly, Pseudopodium retraction
Author: Thelma Dunnebacke
Source: The Cell: An Image Library
