Update on Acanthamoeba phylogeny
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GENETICS, EVOLUTION, AND PHYLOGENY - ORIGINAL PAPER
Update on Acanthamoeba phylogeny Daniele Corsaro 1 Received: 22 May 2020 / Accepted: 2 August 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The evolutionary history of Acanthamoeba has been substantially resolved by the 18S rDNA phylogeny which made it possible to delimit the main lines associated with some classical species. Some of them have proven to be polyphyletic, but the inappropriate use of treating under the same names unrelated strains persists. In this study, phylogenies based on the complete genes of nuclear and mitochondrial rDNA were compared, in order to verify the congruence of the different lines. Various groups can thus be identified, some of which associated with the type strains of given species. Recognizing them only by their species names would significantly reduce the current confusion, in addition to logically following basic taxonomic rules. In this manner, the well-known polyphyletic taxa A. castellanii and A. polyphaga, are restricted to the two lines specified by their type strains, while other widely used strains like Neff and Linc-AP1 that are often confused with the previous ones, can be assigned to their own lines. New species are potentially present in other groups and additional efforts are needed to delimit them. Keywords Acanthamoeba . Genotype . Classification . Phylogeny
Introduction Acanthamoeba spp. are among the most abundant and widespread free-living naked amoebae, present in all environments including fresh and brackish water as well as marine water and sediments, soils, and plant surfaces (Sawyer 1989; Sawyer et al. 1977; Liu et al. 2006; Landell et al. 2013). Acanthamoeba plays an important role in the environment as microbial predator by ingesting bacteria and other microbes (Wright et al. 1981; Weekers et al. 1993; Albuquerque et al. 2019), so it can also invade artificial systems such as swimming pools and water pipes that are prone to the formation of biofilms (Derr-Harf et al. 1978; Barbeau and Buhler 2001; Hoffmann and Michel 2001). In addition, Acanthamoeba can easily survive and proliferate in human and animal tissues when it accidentally enters the body of vertebrates (e.g., via open wounds, or due to poor hygienic conditions), behaving as an opportunistic parasite and causing disseminate infection (DI), granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE), and Handling Editor: Julia Walochnik * Daniele Corsaro [email protected] 1
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amoebic keratitis (AK) (Marciano-Cabral and Cabral 2003). Furthermore, it can host various endosymbionts including pathogens (e.g., Legionella), thereby promoting their persistence and transmission (Rowbotham 1980). Under adverse conditions, such as starvation, Acanthamoeba forms a very resistant double-layer cyst, which allows it to survive to various physical and chemical stresses. Being easily cultivable in the laboratory under axenic conditions, Acanthamoeba has been used as a model organism for
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