Diversity and seasonal impact of Acanthamoeba species in a subtropical rivershed.
This study evaluated the presence of Acanthamoeba species in the Puzih River watershed, which features typical subtropical monsoon climate and is located just above the Tropic of Cancer in Taiwan. The relationship between the seasonal and geographical distributions of Acanthamoeba species in this rivershed was also investigated. Acanthamoeba species were detected in water samples using the amoebal enrichment culture method and confirmed by PCR. A total of 136 water samples were included in this study, 16 (11.7%) of which contained Acanthamoeba species. Samples with the highest percentage of Acanthamoeba (32.4%) were obtained during the summer season, mainly from upstream areas. The identified species in the four seasons included Acanthamoeba palestinensis (T2), Acanthamoeba sp. IS2/T4 (T4), Acanthamoeba lenticulata (T5), Acanthamoeba hatchetti (T11), Acanthamoeba healyi (T12), and Acanthamoeba jacobsi (T15). The most frequently identified Acanthamoeba genotype was T4 (68.7%). Acanthamoeba genotype T4 is responsible for Acanthamoeba keratitis and should be considered for associated human health risk potential in the rivershed.
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi 621, Taiwan.
Po-Min
PM
Kao
Department of Internal Medicine, Cheng Hsin Hospital, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
Ming-Yuan
MY
Chou
Section of Respiratory Therapy, Cheng Hsin Hospital, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
Chi-Wei
CW
Tao
Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Mackay Medicine, Nursing, and Management College, Taipei 251, Taiwan.
Wen-Chien
WC
Huang
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi 621, Taiwan.
Bing-Mu
BM
Hsu
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi 621, Taiwan.
Shu-Min
SM
Shen
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi 621, Taiwan.
Cheng-Wei
CW
Fan
Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, National Yang Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan ; General Surgery, Surgical Department, Cheng Hsin General Hospital, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
Yi-Chou
YC
Chiu
D000048:Acanthamoeba / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D012621:Seasons; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013624:Taiwan