Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Dec;121(12):3693-3699.
doi: 10.1007/s00436-022-07651-z. Epub 2022 Sep 23.

Acanthamoeba and a bacterial endocytobiont isolated from recreational freshwaters

Diego Gastón Sanguino-Jorquera  1   2 , Verónica Beatriz Rajal  1   3   4 , María Mercedes Juárez  1   3 , Hugo Ramiro Poma  1 , Verónica Patricia Irazusta  5   6
Affiliations

Acanthamoeba and a bacterial endocytobiont isolated from recreational freshwaters

Diego Gastón Sanguino-Jorquera et al. Parasitol Res. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

The quality of many freshwater environments is impacted by human activities, so that many rivers may represent a vehicle for the transmission of health-related microorganisms. This work aimed to isolate and identify genetically free-living amoeba (FLA) of the genus Acanthamoeba from a recreational river in Salta, Argentina, and isolate, if possible, an endocytobiont. Sampling took place at four points (P1-P4) throughout the river in the winter and the summer seasons. Free-living amoebae and Acanthamoeba were recovered from 20-L water concentrated through an ultrafiltration system. Isolation was performed in agar plates, confirmation of Acanthamoeba genus by PCR, and fellow identification and classification based on their sequence analyses. High concentrations of indicator bacteria were found especially in P2, which is intensively used for recreation. Out of a total of 29 FLA isolations, 9 were identified as Acanthamoeba genotype T4 subtype A, the most frequent genotype found in nature and associated with causing human disease. From an axenic culture of Acanthamoeba spp. (KY751412), a bacterial endocytobiont was isolated, and identified as Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. The endocytobiont showed resistance and intermediate resistance to a wide range of widely used antibiotics. Results were in concordance with the cosmopolitan behavior of Acanthamoeba, and showed the importance of studying this group of amoebae and related microorganisms in recreational environments.

Keywords: Acanthamoeba; Endocytobiont; Free-living amoebae; Recreational waters; Resistant bacteria; Ultrafiltration.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Aydemir C, Aktaş E, Eldeş N, Kutsal E, Demirel F, Ege A (2008) Community-acquired infection due to Stenotrophomonas maltophilia: a rare cause of septic arthritis. Turk J Pediatr 50(1):89–90
    1. Brooke JS (2012) Stenotrophomonas maltophilia: an emerging global opportunistic pathogen. Clin Microbiol Rev 25(1):2–41. https://doi.org/10.1128/CMR.00019-11 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Comey CT, Koons BW, Presley KW, Smerick JB, Sobieralski CA, Stanley DM, Baechtel FS (1994) DNA extraction strategies for amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis. J Forensic Sci 39(5):1254–1269. https://doi.org/10.1520/JFS13711J - DOI
    1. Corsaro D, Müller KD, Michel R (2013) Molecular characterization and ultrastructure of a new amoeba endoparasite belonging to the Stenotrophomonas maltophilia complex. Exp Parasitol 133(4):383–390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exppara.2012.12.016 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fuerst PA, Booton GC, Crary M (2015) Phylogenetic analysis and the evolution of the 18S rRNA gene typing system of Acanthamoeba. J Eukaryot Microbiol 62:69–84. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeu.12186 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources