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A simple method for culturing Acanthamoeba from soft contact lens at a clinical laboratory of a hospital: Case report of Acanthamoeba keratitis
Culturing method forAcanthamoeba. (A) Translucent plaques (arrows) at the edge of bacterial white plaques as well as the inside after incubation for 4 days at 30°C on Sabouraud dextrose agar plate painted with heat-treated (at 60°C for 15 min)Escherichia coli. Saline washed with the contact lens was inoculated at the center of the dish. Parallel incubation at 23 °C resulted in less growth while incubation at 37°C resulted in no growth. (B and C), cysts (B) and trophozoite (C) by Giemsa stain (×1000) in the background of dead bacilli (E. coli). (D) Cysts (arrowheads) and trophozoite (arrow) dispersed in saline ( �...
Source: Clinical Case Reports - November 21, 2023 Category: General Medicine Authors: Toshihiko Matsuo, Motoko Nose Tags: CASE REPORT Source Type: research

Discovery of the first unconventional myosin: Acanthamoeba myosin-I
Having characterized actin from Acanthamoeba castellanii (Weihing and Korn, Biochemistry, 1971, 10, 590–600) and knowing that myosin had been isolated from the slime mold Physarum (Hatano and Tazawa, Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1968, 154, 507–519; Adelman and Taylor, Biochemistry, 1969, 8, 4976–4988), we set out in 1969 to find myosin in Acanthamoeba. We used K-EDTA-ATPase activity to assay myosin, because it is a unique feature of muscle myosins. After slightly less than 3 years, we purified a K-EDTA ATPase that interacted with actin. Actin filaments stimulated the Mg-ATPase activity of the crude enzyme, but this was l...
Source: Frontiers in Physiology - November 17, 2023 Category: Physiology Source Type: research

Genetic manipulation of giant viruses and their host, Acanthamoeba castellanii
Nature Protocols, Published online: 14 November 2023; doi:10.1038/s41596-023-00910-yThis protocol enables genetic manipulation of nuclear and cytoplasmic giant viruses and their host, Acanthomoeba castellanii, by using either CRISPR–Cas9 or homologous recombination. (Source: Nature Protocols)
Source: Nature Protocols - November 14, 2023 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Nadege Philippe Avi Shukla Chantal Abergel Hugo Bisio Source Type: research

Acanthamoeba castellanii trophozoites escape killing by neutrophil extracellular traps using their 3'-nucleotidase/nuclease activity
Eur J Protistol. 2023 Oct 31;91:126032. doi: 10.1016/j.ejop.2023.126032. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTAcanthamoeba castellanii is a free-living amoeba that acts as an opportunistic pathogen for humans and is the pathogenic agent of Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK). A. castellanii may present as proliferative and infective trophozoites or as resistant cysts during their life cycle. The immune response against AK is still poorly explored; however, it is well established that macrophages and neutrophils play essential roles in controlling corneal infection during the disease outcome. The release of NETs is one of the innate immun...
Source: European Journal of Protistology - November 10, 2023 Category: Microbiology Authors: Luiz Fernando Carvalho-Kelly Anita Leocadio Freitas-Mesquita Michelle T C Nascimento Claudia F Dick Eduarda de Souza-Maciel Natalia C Rochael Elvira M Saraiva Jos é Roberto Meyer-Fernandes Source Type: research

Cold atmospheric plasma: a sustainable approach to inactivating viruses, bacteria, and protozoa with remediation of organic pollutants in river water and wastewater
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Nov 1. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-30298-x. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTInnovative technologies are needed to enhance access to clean water and avoid waterborne diseases. We investigated the performance of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP), a clean and sustainable approach for microbial inactivation and total organic carbon (TOC) degradation in environmental water. Water matrices played a crucial role in the performance of CAP efficacy; for example, complete removal of ɸX174 from dH2O required 1 min of treatment, while ɸX174 reductions of ~ 2log10 and 4log10 were obtained after 10 min of CAP ex...
Source: Environmental Science and Pollution Research International - November 1, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Ibrahim Ahmed Hamza Amer S El-Kalliny Sherif Abd-Elmaksoud Mohamed A Marouf Mahmoud S Abdel-Wahed Mohamed Azab El-Liethy Mohamed Mokhtar Hefny Source Type: research

Expression of Concern for Ad ékambi et al., "Survival of Environmental Mycobacteria in < em > Acanthamoeba polyphaga < /em > "
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2023 Oct 31:e0115923. doi: 10.1128/aem.01159-23. Online ahead of print.NO ABSTRACTPMID:37905832 | DOI:10.1128/aem.01159-23 (Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology)
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - October 31, 2023 Category: Microbiology Authors: American Society for Microbiology Source Type: research

Taxonomic update for giant viruses in the order Imitervirales (phylum Nucleocytoviricota)
AbstractLarge DNA viruses in the phylumNucleocytoviricota, sometimes referred to as “giant viruses” owing to their large genomes and virions, have been the subject of burgeoning interest over the last decade. Here, we describe recently adopted taxonomic updates for giant viruses within the orderImitervirales. The familiesAllomimiviridae,Mesomimiviridae, andSchizomimiviridae have been created to accommodate the increasing diversity of mimivirus relatives that have sometimes been referred to in the literature as “extendedMimiviridae”. In addition, the subfamiliesAliimimivirinae,Megamimivirinae, andKlosneuvirinae have...
Source: Archives of Virology - October 31, 2023 Category: Virology Source Type: research

First report of free-living amoebae in sewage treatment plants in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil
The objective of this work was to identify FLA present in sewage treatment plants in Porto Alegre, Brazil. About 1 L samples were collected from eight stations (raw and treated sewage) in January, February, July, and August 2022. The samples were sown in monoxenic culture, and the isolated amoebae were subjected to morphological and molecular identification. Polymerase chain reaction results indicated the presence of the genus Acanthamoeba in 100% of the samples. Gene sequencing showed the presence of Acanthamoeba lenticulata and Acanthamoeba polyphaga - T5 and T4 genotypes - respectively, which are related to pathogenicit...
Source: Journal of Water and Health - October 30, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Thaisla Cristiane Borella da Silva Daniel Leal Dos Santos Marilise Brittes Rott Source Type: research

Isolation and genotyping of Acanthamoeba species and Vahlkampfiidae in the harsh environmental conditions in the centre of Iran
J Water Health. 2023 Oct;21(10):1572-1579. doi: 10.2166/wh.2023.203.ABSTRACTDifferent species of free-living amoeba (FLA) have been abundantly isolated in harsh environmental conditions such as hot springs and brackish water. The present study aimed to isolate, genotype, and evaluate the pathogenicity of FLAs in Qom Roud, a large river, in the centre of Iran. About 500 mL of water samples (n = 30) were collected from each sampling site and were investigated for the presence of FLAs using morphological and molecular characters. Genotype identification was performed using DNA sequencing and a phylogenetic tree was constructe...
Source: Journal of Water and Health - October 30, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Azam Pourabbasi Ardekan Maryam Niyyati Reza Saberi Leyli Zanjirani Farahani Marziye Fatemi Source Type: research

Waterborne transmission of protozoan parasites: a review of worldwide outbreaks - an update 2017-2022
J Water Health. 2023 Oct;21(10):1421-1447. doi: 10.2166/wh.2023.094.ABSTRACTThe current study presents a comprehensive review of worldwide waterborne parasitic protozoan outbreaks reported between 2017 and 2022. In total, 416 outbreaks were attributed to the waterborne transmission of parasitic protozoa. Cryptosporidium accounted for 77.4% (322) of outbreaks, while Giardia was identified as the etiological agent in 17.1% (71). Toxoplasma gondii and Naegleria fowleri were the primary causes in 1.4% (6) and 1% (4) of outbreaks, respectively. Blastocystis hominis, Cyclospora cayetanensis, and Dientamoeba fragilis were indepen...
Source: Journal of Water and Health - October 30, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Pavlina Bourli Aida Vafae Eslahi Ourania Tzoraki Panagiotis Karanis Source Type: research