• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.157-164
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• 2008

Three Acanthamoeba isolates (KA/E9, KA/E17, and KA/E23) from patients with keratitis were identified as Acanthamoeba triangularis by analysis of their molecular characteristics, a species not previously recognized to be a corneal pathogen. Epidemiologic significance of A. triangularis as a keratopathogen in Korea has been discussed. Morphologic features of Acanthamoeba cysts were examined under a microscope with differential interference contrast (DIC) optics. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of the ocular isolates KA/E9, KA/E17, and KA/E23 were digested with restriction enzymes, and the restriction patterns were compared with those of reference strains. Complete nuclear 188 and mitochondrial (mt) 16S rDNA sequences were subjected to phylogenetic analysis and species identification. mtDNA RFLP of 3 isolates showed very similar patterns to those of SH621, the type strain of A. triangularis. 16S and 18S rDNA sequence analysis confirmed 3 isolates to be A. triangularis. 18S rDNA sequence differences of the isolates were 1.3% to 1.6% and those of 16S rDNA, 0.4% to 0.9% from A. triangularis SH621. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report, confirmed by 18S and 16S rDNA sequence analysis, of keratitis caused by A. triangularis of which the type strain was isolated from human feces. Six isolates of A. triangularis had been reported from contaminated contact lens cases in southeastern Korea.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.341-348
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• 1995

Genetic status of Acnnthamoebc sap. were tested on the basis of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) marker analysis. Four previously established Accnthcmoebn species, 4 Korean isolates of Acnnthamoeba sp., and one American isolate of Acanthcmoebc sp. were analyzed by RAPD-PCR using an arbitrary decamer primers. Amplification products were fractionated by agarose gel electrophoresis and slainrd by ethidium bromide . Eighteen primers produced DNA amplification profiles revealing clear differences among 4 species. Nine of them also produced DNA amplification profiles which included some isolate-specific amplification products. On the basis of amplified fragments by 18 primers, the pairwise similarity indices between A. culbensoni and other species (i.e. A. hntchetti, A. trinngularis, A. polyphaga) were 0.300, 0.308, and 0.313, respectively. Similarity index between A. hctchetti and A. triansulcris was 0.833. The mean similarity index among the 3 Korean isolates (YM-2, -3, -4) was 0.959 and 0.832 among them and 2 other species (A. hatchetti and A. triongulnris). The mean similarity index among YM-5 and other Korean isolates (YM-2, -3, -4) was 0.237. However, the similarity index between YM-5 and A. culbeksoni was 0.857, which suggests that YM-5 is genetically more similar to A. culbertsoni than other Korean isolates. Phonogram reconstructed by UPGMA method revealed that there are two groups: one group consists of A. hctchetti, A. tlonsulcns, and 3 Korean isolates (YM-2, -3, -4) , and the other group consists of A. cuLbensoni. A. polwphosc, HOV, and YM-5.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.181-188
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• 1999

We investigated the value of mitochondrial small subunit rRNA gene (mt SSU rDNA) PCR-RFLP as a taxonomic tool for Acanthamoeba isolates with close inter-relationships. Twenty-five isolates representing 20 species were included in the analysis. As in nuclear 18s rDNA analysis, two type strains (A. astronyxis and A. tubiashi) of morphological group 1 diverged earliest from the other strains, but the divergence between them was less than in 18s riboprinting. Acanthamoeba griffini of morhological group 2 branched between pathogenic (A. culbertsoni A-1 and A. healyi OC-3A) and nonpathogenic (A.palestinensis Reich, A. pustulosa GE-3a, A. royreba Oak Ridge, and A lenticulata PD2S) strains of morphological group 3. Among the remaining isolates of morphological group 2, the Chang strain had the identical mitochondrial riboprints as the type strain of A. hatchetti. AA2 and AA1, the type strains of A. divionensis and A. paradivionensis, respectively, had the identical riboprints as A. quina Vil3 and A. castellanii Ma. Although the branching orders of A. castellanii Neff, A. polyphaga P23, A. triangularis SH621, and A. lugdunensis L3a were different from those in 18S riboprinting analysis, the results obtained from this study generally coincided well with those from 18S riboprinting. Mitochondrial riboprinting may have an advantage over nuclear 18S rDNA riboprinting beacuse the mt SSU rDNAs do not seem to have introns that are found in the 18S genes of Acanthamoeba and that distort phylogenetic analyses.