Isolation and Genotyping of Acanthamoeba Strains from Environmental Sources in Ahvaz City, Khuzestan Province, Southern Iran

Background: Acanthamoeba spp. are free-living amoebae commonly found in the environmental sources such as water, soil, and air. This ubiquitous amoeba is the causative agent of amoebic kerati- tis (AK). The objective of the present study was to investigate the presence of Acanthamoeba spp. in water and soil sources in Ahvaz City, Khuzestan Province, southern Iran. Methods: In general, 110 samples of water and soil were taken from different localities of Ahvaz including agricultural canals, rivers, and swimming pools. Filtration and cultivation were carried out on non-nutrient agar medium (NNA). Axenic cultivation was performed for all of positive isolates. PCR analysis was conducted on positive samples. Sequencing was done for 15 PCR products. Geno - types were identified by Blast search and homology analysis. Result: Acanthamoeba spp. was found in 43 (71.6%) of samples of water and 13 (26%) soil samples. Genotyping of 15 samples proved that Acanthamoeba belonged to T4 (86.6%), T2 (6.6%), and T5 (6.6%) genotypes. Conclusion: TYI-S-33 medium could be better than PYG medium for Acanthamoeba axenic culture.