spot, has been observed causing severe damage in all maizegrowing areas of Brazil since 1982 (Fantin, 1994). The causal organism of this disease was initially described in the USA as Phaeosphaeria maydis (Henn.) Rane, Payak & Renfro (sin. Sphaerulinia maydis Henn.), anamorph Phyllosticta sp. (Rane et al., 1966). Doubts regarding the etiology of this disease have resulted in several attempts to ...

conclusions the results of the present study revealed that soil resources of these areas were contaminated with opportunistic amoebas such as acanthamoeba and hartmannella spp. and this may lead to severe diseases in high-risk people, such as immunocompromised patients. background free-living amoebas are very abundant in nature, especially in water and soil. some species of amoebas cause seriou...