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Isolation and characterization of Acanthamoeba strains from soil samples in Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain

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Abstract

Free-living Amoebae of Acanthamoeba genus include non-pathogenic and pathogenic strains that are currently classified in 18 different genotypes, T1–T18. In this study, a survey was carried out to evaluate the presence of Acanthamoeba strains in soil samples collected between 2012 and 2013 in Gran Canaria Island, Canary Islands, Spain. Samples were inoculated onto non-nutrient agar (NNA) plates and were checked for the presence of Acanthamoeba. Identification of Acanthamoeba strains was based on the morphology of the cyst and trophozoite forms. Subsequently, positive samples were cloned for their molecular characterization at the genotype level by sequencing the DF3 region located in the 18S rDNA gene of Acanthamoeba as previously described. Sequencing results revealed the presence of T2, T5 and T4 genotypes within the studied samples. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating the presence of Acanthamoeba in Gran Canaria Island and the first study at the genotype level in the Canary Islands.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the grants RICET (project no. RD12/0018/0012 of the programme of Redes Temáticas de Investigación Cooperativa, FIS), Spanish Ministry of Health, Madrid, Spain and the Project FIS PI10/01298 “Protozoosis emergentes por amebas de vida libre: aislamiento y caracterización molecular, identificación de cepas transportadoras de otros agentes patógenos y búsqueda de quimioterapias efectivas” from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. ALA was funded by a grant “Ayudas del Programa de Formación de Personal Investigador, para la realización de Tesis Doctorales” from the Agencia Canaria de Investigación, Innovación y Sociedad de la Información from the Canary Islands Government. CMMN was supported by a postdoctoral grant from the Fundación Canaria Manuel Morales, La Palma, Canary Islands. MRB, CDT and AMCV were funded by CEI Canarias, Campus Atlántico Internacional. MRB was also supported by Becas Fundación Cajacanarias para Postgraduados. JLM was supported by the Ramón y Cajal Subprogramme from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competivity RYC-2011-08863. The authors are grateful to Jorge Rodríguez Rodríguez and Silvia Matos González for their help during the sampling procedure.

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Correspondence to Jacob Lorenzo-Morales.

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Reyes-Batlle, M., Todd, C.D., Martín-Navarro, C.M. et al. Isolation and characterization of Acanthamoeba strains from soil samples in Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. Parasitol Res 113, 1383–1388 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-3778-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-3778-z

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