Based on morphological and molecular characterisation, four amoeba strains isolated from organs of freshwater fish were identified as Hartmannella vermiformis Page, 1967. Small subunit rRNA gene sequences of these strains expand the set of corresponding complete and almost complete sequences of this species to twelve. A new species-specific oligonucleotide probe inferred from recently available...

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is found ubiquitously in the environment and is an important emerging nosocomial pathogen. S. maltophilia has been recently described as an Amoebae-Resistant Bacteria (ARB) that exists as part of the microbiome of various free-living amoebae (FLA) from waters. Co-culture approaches with Vermamoeba vermiformis demonstrated the ability of this bacterium to resist amoe...

Legionellae can infect and multiply intracellularly in both human phagocytic cells and protozoa. Growth of legionellae in the absence of protozoa has been documented only on complex laboratory media. The hypothesis upon which this study was based was that biofilm matrices, known to provide a habitat and a gradient of nutrients, might allow the survival and multiplication of legionellae outside ...

Legionella pneumophila proliferates in aquatic habitats within free-living protozoa, 17 species of which have been identified as hosts by using in vitro experiments. The present study aimed at identifying protozoan hosts for L. pneumophila by using a biofilm batch test (BBT). Samples (600 ml) collected from 21 engineered freshwater systems, with added polyethylene cylinders to promote biofilm f...

In the present study, the occurrence of free-living protozoa (FLP) and foodborne bacterial pathogens on dishcloths was investigated. Dishcloths form a potentially important source of cross-contamination with FLP and foodborne pathogens in food-related environments. First various protocols for recovering and quantifying FLP from dishcloths were assessed. The stomacher technique is recommended to...

Isolates of widely distributed amoeba species Hartmannella vermiformis differs in the details of cyst structure. This is unusual for gymnamoebae and is important in course of modern approaches to amoebae systematic. Cysts of the isolate of this species, described here, have regular separation of the cyst wall into endocyst and ectocyst, in contrast with the “original” isolates, described by F.C...

Invasion and intracellular replication of Legionella pneumophila within protozoa in the environment plays a major role in the transmission of Legionnaires' disease. Intracellular replication of L. pneumophila within protozoa occurs in a rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER)-surrounded phagosome (Y. Abu Kwaik, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62:2022-2028, 1996). Since the subsequent fate of many intracell...