Acanthamoeba Belonging to T3, T4, and T11: Genotypes Isolated from Air-Conditioning Units in Santiago, Chile

ABSTRACT Free‐living amoebae (FLA) of the genus Acanthamoeba are widely distributed in the environment, in the air, soil, and water, and have also been isolated from air‐conditioning units. The objective of this work was to investigate the presence of this genus of FLA in the air‐conditioning equipm...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of eukaryotic microbiology 2011-11, Vol.58 (6), p.542-544
Main Authors: Astorga, Berbeli, Lorenzo-Morales, Jacob, Martín-Navarro, Carmen M, Alarcón, Verónica, Moreno, Johanna, González, Ana C., Navarrete, Elizabeth, Piñero, José E., Valladares, Basilio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acanthamoeba
Acanthamoeba - classification
Acanthamoeba - genetics
Acanthamoeba - isolation & purification
Air Conditioning
Amoebae
Biological and medical sciences
Chile
DNA, Protozoan - chemistry
DNA, Protozoan - genetics
DNA, Ribosomal - chemistry
DNA, Ribosomal - genetics
Environmental Microbiology
free living amoebae
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Genes, rRNA
Genotype
Life cycle. Host-agent relationship. Pathogenesis
Molecular Sequence Data
Protozoa
RNA, Protozoan - genetics
RNA, Ribosomal, 18S - genetics
Sequence Analysis, DNA
South America
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Summary:ABSTRACT Free‐living amoebae (FLA) of the genus Acanthamoeba are widely distributed in the environment, in the air, soil, and water, and have also been isolated from air‐conditioning units. The objective of this work was to investigate the presence of this genus of FLA in the air‐conditioning equipment at the Institute of Public Health of Chile in Santiago, Chile. Water and air samples were collected from air‐conditioning systems and were checked for the presence of Acanthamoeba spp. Positive samples were further classified at the genotype level after sequencing the highly variable diagnostic fragment 3 (DF3) region of the 18S rRNA gene. This is the first report of the T3, T4, and T11 genotypes of Acanthamoeba in air‐conditioning units from Chile. Overall, the widespread distribution of potentially pathogenic Acanthamoeba strains in the studied source demands more awareness within the public and health professionals in Chile as this pathogen is emerging as a risk for human health worldwide.
ISSN:1066-5234
1550-7408
DOI:10.1111/j.1550-7408.2011.00584.x