BRIEF COMMUNICATION
Quick survey for detection, identification and characterization of Acanthamoeba genotypes from some selected soil and water samples in Pakistan
1
Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, University of Haripur, Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
2
Department of Environmental Sciences, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan
3
Institute of Biomedical and Genetic Engineering, Islamabad, Pakistan
Ann Agric Environ Med. 2015;22(2):227-230
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Acanthamoeba is an opportunistic protozoan pathogen which is widely distributed in nature and plays a pivotal role in ecosystem. Acanthamoeba species may cause blinding keratitis and fatal granulomatous encephalitis involving central nervous system. In this study, we investigated the presence of Acanthamoeba in soil and water resources of Pakistan. Here, Acanthamoeba were recovered on non-nutrient agar plate lawn with E.coli and identified by morphological characteristics of the cyst. Furthermore PCR was performed with genus-specific primers followed by direct sequencing of the PCR product for molecular identification. Overall our PCR and sequencing results confirmed pathogenic genotypes including T4 and T15 from both soil and water samples. This is our first report of Acanthamoeba isolation from both soil and water resources of Pakistan which may serve as a potential treat to human health across the country.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors express their thanks to Brig. Muhammad Farooq
Murawat, Asim Wazir Khan Naizi, Sohail Khan Naizi, Junaid
Khan, Abu Turab Khan and Ghazala Shabnum for their
tremendous support in the collection and transportation of
samples. This work was partially supported by grants from
University of Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
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