Parasites, Hosts and Diseases

The Korea Society for Parasitology and Tropical Medicine (대한기생충학·열대의학회)
권호 표지

Evaluation of taxonomic validity of four species of Acanthamoeba: A. divionensis, A. paradivionensis, A. mauritaniensis, and A. rhysodes, inferred from molecular analyses

  • LIU Hua (Department of Parasitology, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine) ;
  • MOON Eun-Kyung (Department of Parasitology, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine) ;
  • YU Hak-Sun (Department of Parasitology, Pusan National University School of Medicine) ;
  • JEONG Hae-Jin (Department of Parasitology, Pusan National University School of Medicine) ;
  • HONG Yeon-Chul (Department of Parasitology, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine) ;
  • KONG Hyun-Hee (Department of Parasitology, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine) ;
  • CHUNG Dong-Il (Department of Parasitology, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine)
  • Published : 2005.03.01
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

The taxonomy of Acanthamoeba spp., an amphizoic amoeba which causes granulomatous amoebic encephalitis and chronic amoebic keratitis, has been revised many times. The taxonomic validity of some species has yet to be assessed. In this paper, we analyzed the morphological characteristics, nuclear 18s rDNA and mitochondrial 16s rDNA sequences and the Mt DNA RFLP of the type strains of four Acanthamoeba species, which had been previously designated as A. divionensis, A. parasidionensis, A. mauritaniensis, and A. rhysodes. The four isolates revealed characteristic group II morphology. They exhibited 18S rDNA sequence differences of $0.2-1.1\%$ with each other, but more than $2\%$ difference from the other compared reference strains. Four isolates formed a different clade from that of A. castellanii Castellani and the other strains in morphological group lion the phylogenetic tree. In light of these results, A. paradivionensis, A. divionensis, and A. mauritaniensis should be regarded as synonyms for A. rhysodes.

Keywords

References

  1. Bhattacharya D, Helmchen T, Melkonian M (1995) Molecular evolutionary analyses of nuclear-encoded small subunit ribosomal RNA identify and independent rhizopod lineage containing the euglyphina and the Chlorarachniophyta. J Eukaryot Microbiol 42: 65-69 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1550-7408.1995.tb01541.x
  2. Chung DI, Yu HS, Hwang MY, Kim TH, Kim TO, Yun HC, Kong HH (1998) Subgenus classification of Acanthamoeba by riboprinting. Korean J Parasitol 36: 69-80 https://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.1998.36.2.69
  3. De Jonckheere JF (1980) Growth characteristics, cytopathic effect in cell culture, and virulence in mice of 36 type strains belonging to 19 different Acanthamoeba spp. Appl Environ Microbiol 39: 681-685
  4. De Jonckheere JF (1983) Isoenzyme and total protein analysis by agarose isoelectric focusing, and taxonomy of the genus Acanthamoeba. J Protozool 30: 701-706 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1550-7408.1983.tb05346.x
  5. Ferris SD, Wilson AC, Brown WM (1981) Evolutionary tree for apes and humans based on cleavage maps of mitochondrial DNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 78: 2432-2436
  6. Gast RJ, Ledee DR, Fuerst PA, Byers TJ (1996) Subgenus systematics of Acanthamoeba: Four nuclear 18S rDNA sequence types. J Eukaryot Microbiol 43: 498-504 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1550-7408.1996.tb04510.x
  7. Kim YH, Ock MS, Yun HC, Hwang MY, Yu HS, Kong HH, Chung DI (1996) Close relatedness of Acanthamoeba pustulosa with Acanthamoeba palestinensis based on isoenzyme profiles and rDNA PCR-RFLP patterns. Korean J Parasitol 34: 259-266 https://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.1996.34.4.259
  8. Kong HH, Park JH, Chung DI (1995) Interstrain polymerphisms of isoenzyme profiles and mitochondrial DNA fingerprints among seven strains assigned to Acanthamoeba polyphaga. Korean J Parasitol 33: 331-340 https://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.1995.33.4.331
  9. Lonergan KM, Gray MW (1994) The ribosomal RNA gene region in Acanthamoeba castellanii mitochondrial DNA. A case of evolutionary transfer of introns between mitochondria and plastids? J Mol Biol 239: 476-499 https://doi.org/10.1006/jmbi.1994.1390
  10. Marciano-Cabral F, Cabral G (2003) Acanthamoeba spp. as agents of disease in humans. Clin Microbiol Rev 16: 273-307 https://doi.org/10.1128/CMR.16.2.273-307.2003
  11. Page FC (1967) Re-definition of the genus Acanthamoeba with descriptions of three species. J Protozool 14: 709-724 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1550-7408.1967.tb02066.x
  12. Page FC (1976) An illustrated key to freshwater and soil amoeba. Freshwater Biological Association scientific publication no. 34. Freshwater Biological Association, Ambleside, England
  13. Page FC (1988) A new key to freshwater and soil gymnamoebae with instructions for culture. Freshwater Biological Association. Ambleside, Cumbria
  14. Pussard M, Pons R (1977) Morphologie de la paroi kystique et taxonomie du genre Acanthamoeba (Protozoa, Amoebida). Protistologica 13: 557-598
  15. Singh BN (1952) Nuclear division in nine species of small free-living amoebae and its bearing on the classification of the order Amoebida. Phil Trans Roy Soc London, Ser B 236: 405-461 https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.1952.0007
  16. Stothard DR, Schroeder-Diedrich JM, Awwad MH, Gast RJ, Ledee DR, Rodriguez-Zaragoza S, Dean CL, Fuerst PA, Byers TJ (1998) The evolutionary history of the genus Acanthamoeba and the identification of eight new 18S rRNA gene sequence types. J Eukaryot Microbiol 45: 45-54 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1550-7408.1998.tb05068.x
  17. Visvesvara GS (1991) Classification of Acanthamoeba. Rev Infect Dis. 13(suppl): S369-372 https://doi.org/10.1093/clind/13.Supplement_5.S369
  18. Yagita G, Endo T (1990) Restriction enzyme analysis of mitochondrial DNA of Acanthamoeba strains in Japan. J Protozool 37: 570-575 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1550-7408.1990.tb01267.x
  19. Yu HS, Hwang MY, Kim TO, Yun HC, Kim TH, Kong HH, Chung DI (1999) Phylogenetic relationships among Acanthamoeba spp. based on PCR-RFLP analyses of mitochondrial small subunit rRNA gene. Korean J Parasitol 37: 181-188 https://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.1999.37.3.181