Acanthamoeba Volkonsky, 1931

Patsyuk, M. K., 2016, New Finds Of Naked Amoebae (Protista) In Water Reservoirs Of Ukraine, Vestnik Zoologii 50 (4), pp. 291-300 : 296-297

Genus Acanthamoeba Volkonsky, 1931

The locomotive forms of all species in the genus Acanthamoeba belong to the acanthopodial morphotype. They are, as a rule, flattened, with sharp and short subpseudopodia. The nucleus is vesicular. They produce cysts with pores. The endocyst is often shaped like a star ( Page, Siemensma, 1991).

Some Acanthamoeba ( A. castelanii , A. culbertsoni ) can be facultative parasites and are pathogens of humans and animals ( Alimov, 2000).

There are species dwelling in fresh and sea water and in soil ( Alimov, 2000).

The amoebae we found are doubtlessly acanthopodial ( fig. 6 ). In locomotion, the protist becomes a triangle with a wide anterior end. The frontal area of the hyaloplasm produces thin subpseudopodia. The nucleus is near the anterior end of the cell. The length of the locomotive form is 12 to 18 µm, the width is 4.5–6.5 µm, and the L/B ratio is 1.5. The diameter of the nucleus is 1.5–1.7 µm. We observed cyst formation in culture ( fig. 6 , 9). The ectocyst is smooth, joined to the endocyst at the tips of the arms. The endocyst is stellate with 5–6 arms. Cyst diameter is up to 18 µm. The species-level identification of Acanthamoeba is carried out using data on culture conditions, virulency and enzyme analysis ( Pussard, Pons, 1977; Dagget et al., 1982). The morphological observations allowed the organism to be identified as Acanthamoeba sp.

The species is first reported from the river Guyva (Andrushivka District) and the river

Uzh ( Korosten District ) in Zhytomyr Region .

Figures

Fig. 6. Acanthamoeba sp.: 1–8 — locomotor forms; 9 — cysts, ×1240.