Euglena Facts

What is a Euglena?

Euglena is a unicellular organism. It means that the organism has only one single cell in its body. It lives in freshwater like quiet puddle or pond or swimming pool. It belongs to the Kingdom Protista which also consists of other life forms such as amoeba and paramecium. Basically, it can be described as a type of protozoa with mixed characteristics of both plant and animal. It is similar to plants because it can prepare its own food by photosynthesis. Its resemblance with animals lies with the fact that it can move around from one place to another.

Some Interesting Facts About Euglena

The single cell of Euglena has a number of organelles to carry out various important bodily functions. Besides, it has other biological features which all of us must know. They are as follows:

• Euglena has an oval shaped body structure with a round anterior and tapered posterior. The outer part of its cell membrane consists of a stiff pellicle which enable it to maintain its shape.
• The bright green body color of this organism is owing to the presence of chloroplasts inside its cell. However, this single cell of Euglena is different from the plant cells because it has no cell wall made of cellulose.
• There is a long, whip like thing attached on the right side towards the front of the body. This is the flagellum which works as a propeller and helps it to move through the water.
• The central part of the cell is occupied by the nucleus which is purple in color. It carries the DNA of the cell and is involved with several vital cellular activities. The nucleolus (plural nucleoli) present inside the nucleus can be identified with its pink color. The inner part of the cell is filled up with a light yellow colored viscous fluid known as cytoplasm.
• A distinguishing characteristics of Euglena is that it is both autotrophic as well as heterotrophic at the same time. In other words, it can produce its own food but it also consumes food from its environment.
• The large number of small rod like structures that are visible in their cell are nothing but the chloroplasts. The sunlight which is required for the photosynthesis process is absorbed by them. When enough sunlight is not available, they cannot make their food. In that case, they move around in the water and eat other microorganisms like amoeba and paramecium.
• Another interesting physical feature of the Euglena is the eyespot. This is a pigmented organelle found at the anterior part of the body and is highly sensitive towards light. This adaptation is extremely important for Euglena as it helps to detect the sunlight which is needed for photosynthesis. Once the sunlight is traced by the eyespot, the organism can orient its movements in that direction.
• At the rear end of the cell, there is a star shaped structure called the contractile vacuole which is orange in color. It helps Euglena to excrete the excess amount of water and waste from its body. In absence of this organelle, it would have suck up so much of water through osmosis that it can burst.
• These organisms reproduce by a process of cell division known as mitosis. During this process, the cell divides into two halves and thus, two new Euglenas are formed from one. The favorable conditions for the multiplication of its cell include a warm atmospheric temperature and adequate amount of food.

After reading all these interesting Euglena facts, you must be excited to see them yourself. However, they are so tiny that they cannot be seen properly with the naked eye. You have to use a microscope in order to see them closely. When millions of them gather in one place on the surface of the pond, they look like a mat. This appears quite similar to algae. If you find the water in a marshy area appearing a bit reddish, then it is likely that Euglena is present there, as some of them look red due to presence of some chemicals in them.