Entamoeba histolytica - Essay Example

This disease spreads rapidly in highly populated places that lack the basic facilities of sanitation and hygiene and is thus more common in the still developing or under developed countries. Classification of any organism depends on its external and internal characteristics and taxonomy is a branch that deals with this classification. Cellular organisms can be classified into two groups- the eukaryotes and prokaryotes. The eukaryotes again can be divided into four basic types or kingdoms. As Sleigh (1991) frames it “Animalia or multicellular animals (Parazoa, Mesozoa and Metazoa), Plantae or green land plants (Bryophyta and Tracheophyta), Fungi ..and Protista, comprising eukaryote groups formerly classed as algae, protozoa and flagellate fungi”( Sleigh, 1991).

The sub kingdom protozoa are not much in use nowadays. Protozoan refers to heterotrophic, unicellular and microscopic protists that can perform functions similar to that of multicellular animals and E. histolytica falls under this protozoan sub kingdom. Like any other Protista its cellular membranes are made of lipoprotein. Its order is amoebida as like any other amoeba it possesses pseudopodia and a free flowing cytoplasm that can move into any form of cellular projections often carrying the contractile and food vacuole into the projections.

This parasitic protozoan forms a part of the genus entamoeba. The species name of histolytica refers to its highly pathogenic nature, histo-lytic or that which causes destruction of cells and tissues. Thus its taxonomic classification can be outlined as: E.histolytica is a single celled anaerobic eukaryote. However under the electron microscope it is seen that it lacks many of the cellular organelles that are present in other eukaryotic organisms. They lack the golgi bodies, the rough endoplasmic reticulum, the mitochondria and the microtubules. It was