High occurrence of Acanthamoeba genotype T4 in soil sources from Bolívar State, Venezuela

Carolina Wagner; María Reyes-Batlle; Aurora Hernán; Elsy Rojas; Gladymar Pérez; Atteneri López-Arencibia; Ines Sifaoui; Enrique Martínez-Carretero; José E. Piñero; Basilio Valladares; Jacob Lorenzo-Morales

doi:10.1515/ap-2016-0063

Article

High occurrence of Acanthamoeba genotype T4 in soil sources from Bolívar State, Venezuela

Carolina Wagner , María Reyes-Batlle , Aurora Hernán , Elsy Rojas , Gladymar Pérez , Atteneri López-Arencibia , Ines Sifaoui , Enrique Martínez-Carretero , José E. Piñero , Basilio Valladares and Jacob Lorenzo-Morales

Published/Copyright: July 21, 2016

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From the journal Acta Parasitologica Volume 61 Issue 3

Abstract

Pathogenic strains of Acanthamoeba are causative agents of keratitis and encephalitis that often may end fatal in humans and other animals. In the present study, twenty-seven soil samples were collected in the Bolivar State in Venezuela and checked for the presence of Acanthamoeba. Samples were cultivated onto 2% non-nutrient agar plates seeded with a layer of heat killed E. coli. Amplification by PCR and sequencing of the DF3 region of the 18S rDNA of Acanthamoeba was carried out in order to confirm morphological identification of the amoebae. Furthermore, Acanthamoeba spp. was isolated from 51.8% of soil samples. Sequencing of the DF3 region of the 18S rDNA resulted in the identification of genotype T4 in all samples. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of genotype T4 in soil sources from Venezuela. Further studies should be carried out in this State and in the country in order to determine the current occurrence of Acanthamoeba in Venezuelan environments.

Keywords: Acanthamoeba; genotype; soil; Bolívar State; Venezuela

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the grants RICET (project no. RD12/0018/0012 of the programme of Redes Temáticas de Investigación Cooperativa, FIS), Spanish Ministry of Health, Madrid, Spain, the Project PI13/00490 "Protozoosis Emergentes por Amebas de Vida Libre: Aislamiento, Caracterización, Nuevas Aproximaciones Terapéuticas y Traslación Clínica de los Resultados" from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, and Project ref. AGUA3 "Amebas de Vida Libre como Marcadores de Calidad del Agua" from Caja-Canarias Fundación. CWA was supported by a grant from Consejo de Desarrollo Científico y Humanístico -Universidad Central de Venezuela (Becario Exterior 2014-2015). ALA and MRB were funded by Becas de Investigación Obra Social La Caixa-Fundación Cajacanarias para Postgraduados 2014”. IS was funded by Ayudas para estancias investigadores- ULL, 2015. JLM was supported by the Ramón y Cajal Subprogramme from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity RYC-2011-08863.

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Received: 2015-11-18

Revised: 2016-1-28

Accepted: 2016-2-3

Published Online: 2016-7-21

Published in Print: 2016-9-1

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/ap-2016-0063

Keywords for this article

Acanthamoeba; genotype; soil; Bolívar State; Venezuela