In regions with high prevalence, Blastocystis hominis is frequently found in association with Entamoeba histolytica/E. dispar in xenic cultures. Its exacerbated growth is often superimposed on the growth of amebas, thus impeding the continuation of the amebas in the culture, within a few generations. The present study reports on the excellent efficacy (100%) of the antifungal agent miconazole i...

Pathogenic strains of Entamoeba histolytica are more easily agglutinated with concanavalin A (Con A) than strains isolated from human asymptomatic carriers. All three pathogenic strains studied here were found to agglutinate with low concentrations of Con A in contrast to various nonpathogenic axenic strains of amebas, characterized by their ability to grow at room temperature. Our present obse...

Long before bacteria infected humans, they infected amoebas, which remain a potentially important reservoir for human disease. Diverse soil amoebas including Dictyostelium and Acanthamoeba can host intracellular bacteria. Though the internal environment of free-living amoebas is similar in many ways to that of mammalian macrophages, they differ in a number of important ways, including temperatu...

BACKGROUND The number of valid of pathogen and non-pathogen species of Entamoeba has continuously increased in human and animals. This review is performed to provide an update list and some summarized information on Entamoeba species, which were identified up to the 2014. METHODS We evaluated the Entamoeba genus with a broad systematic review of the literature, books and electronic databases ...

The legal biological survey of swimming pool waters is based on both the level of bacteriological contamination and the amount of material of fecal origin. The great number of soil amoebas and the occasional epidemiological risk involved led us to consider using these organisms as possible biological markers to estimate the quality of pool water and the extent of disinfection. During a 1-year s...

Fumagillin, an irreversible inhibitor of MetAP2, has been shown to potently inhibit growth of malaria parasites in vitro. Here, we demonstrate activity of fumagillin analogs with an improved pharmacokinetic profile against malaria parasites, trypanosomes, and amoebas. A subset of the compounds showed efficacy in a murine malaria model. The observed SAR forms a basis for further optimization of ...

Dictyostelium caveatum amebas feed upon both bacteria and the amebas of other cellular slime molds. The capacity to feed extensively upon other cellular slime molds is unique to D. caveatum amebas. They are able to phagocytose amebas larger than themselves by nibbling pieces of the cells until they are small enough to ingest. Here we report the isolation from previously cloned stock cultures of...

Most models of animal foraging and consumer choice assume that individuals make choices based on the absolute value of items and are therefore 'economically rational'. However, frequent violations of rationality by animals, including humans, suggest that animals use comparative valuation rules. Are comparative valuation strategies a consequence of the way brains process information, or are they...

Dysentery amebae may live for 72 hours in vitro. The transition of the large vegetative forms into the cyst may be observed in vitro. The large vegetative ameba always passes into an intermediate stage before assuming the small vegetative form. The atypical forms are dysentery amebas with abnormal nuclei and cytoplasm. When circumstances are unfavorable encystment takes place. Under favorable c...

We have studied the pattern of electrical currents through amebas (mainly Chaos chaos) with an ultrasensitive extracellular vibrating probe. Amebas drive both steady currents and current pulses through themselves. Relatively steady current with an average surface density of 0.1-0.2 muA/cm2 enters the rear quarter of an ameba and leaves its pseudopods. Streaming reversals are preceded by changes...