Isolation and characterization of Acanthamoeba spp. from air-conditioners in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Chan, L.L. and Mak, J.W. and Low, Y.T. and Koh, T.T. and Ithoi, I. and Mohamed, S.M. (2011) Isolation and characterization of Acanthamoeba spp. from air-conditioners in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Acta Tropica, 117 (1). pp. 23-30. ISSN 1873-6254, DOI 20858455.

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Abstract

During a study on the quality of the indoor environment, Acanthamoeba spp. were detected in 20 out of 87 dust samples collected from air-conditioners installed in a four-story campus building located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Twenty-one cloned Acanthamoeba isolates designated as IMU1 to IMU21 were established from the positive primary cultures. Five species were identified from the 16 isolates according to the morphological criteria of Pussard and Pons; i.e. A. castellanii, A. culbertsoni, A. griffini, A. hatchetti and A. polyphaga. Species identities for the remaining five isolates (IMU4, IMU5, IMU15, IMU20 and IMU21), however, could not be determined morphologically. At genotypic characterization, these isolates were placed into T3 (IMU14); 15 (IMU16 and IMU17)and T4 (all the remaining isolates). To predict the potential pathogenicity of these Acanthamoeba isolates, thermo- and osmotolerance tests were employed; many isolates were predicted as potential human pathogens based on the outcome of these tests. This is the first time potentially pathogenic Acanthamoeba have been isolated from air-conditioners in Malaysia. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Article
Funders:	UNSPECIFIED
Additional Information:	Chan, Li-Li Mak, Joon-Wah Low, Yoon-Tong Koh, Thuan-Tzen Ithoi, Init Mohamed, Shar Mariam eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Netherlands 2010/09/23 06:00 Acta Trop. 2011 Jan;117(1):23-30. Epub 2010 Sep 19.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Acanthamoeba/*classification/cytology/genetics/*isolation & purification *Air Conditioning Cell Survival Cluster Analysis DNA, Protozoan/chemistry/genetics DNA, Ribosomal/chemistry/genetics *Dust *Environmental Microbiology Genes, rRNA Hot Temperature Humans Malaysia Microscopy Molecular Sequence Data Osmotic Pressure Phylogeny RNA, Protozoan/genetics RNA, Ribosomal, 18S/genetics Sequence Analysis, DNA
Subjects:	R Medicine
Divisions:	Faculty of Medicine
Depositing User:	Mr Jenal S
Date Deposited:	10 Dec 2012 01:17
Last Modified:	10 Dec 2012 01:17
URI:	http://eprints.um.edu.my/id/eprint/4088

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