Table 1.
Presence of Acanthamoeba, free living amoeba, and mixed genera in the examined samples.
Fig 1.
Light micrographs of Acanthamoeba castellanii, trophozoite and cyst staining with different stains (X1000).
(A) A. castellanii trophozoite in wet mount showing vacuoles (arrowhead). (B) Unstained Acanthamoeba cysts showing wrinkled ectocyst (black arrow), smooth endocyst (red arrow) and nucleus and ostiole (arrowhead). (C) A. castellanii trophozoite stained with iodine wet mount stain trophozoite appears yellowish–brown with prominent nucleus (arrowhead). (D) A. castellanii cyst appears yellowish–brown with well-defined ectocyst and endocyst. (E) A. castellanii trophozoite stained with Giemsa stain showing prominent nucleus (star) contractile vacuole and acanthopodia (arrowhead). (F) The nucleus of cyst stained blue with Giemsa stain. (G) A. castellanii stained with eosin showing dead trophozoite appears pink color with prominent nucleus (arrowhead). (H) A. castellanii cyst showing dead cyst appears pink (d) and viable cyst unstained (v). (I) Acanthamoeba trophozoite and (J) cyst stained with methylene blue.
Fig 2.
Light micrographs of Acanthamoeba polyphaga trophozoite and cyst staining with different stains.
(A) A. polyphaga trophozoite in wet mount showing numbers of spiky projecting acanthopodia (arrowhead) and vacuoles (red arrow head) X400. (B) Unstained A. polyphaga cysts showing wrinkled ectocyst (arrowhead), smooth endocyst and nucleus X400. (C and D) A. polyphaga trophozoite and cyst stained with iodine wet mount stain appeared yellowish–brown with well-defined ectocyst and endocyst and central nucleus X1000. (E and F) A. polyphaga trophozoite stained with Giemsa showing prominent contractile vacuole (star) and acanthopodia (arrowhead) X1000. (G) A. polyphaga cyst stained with Giemsa X1000. (H) A. polyphaga with eosin showing dead cyst appears pink (d) and viable cyst unstained (v). (I and J) A. polyphaga trophozoite and cyst stained with methylene blue. They appear blue and the nucleus of trophozoite appears dark blue (arrow) and acanthopodia (arrowhead) X1000.
Fig 3.
Scanning electron micrograph showing morphological stages of A. castellanii.
(A) Trophozoite with the characteristic acanthopodia. (B and C) Phases of cyst wall formation as detected by scanning electron microscopy showing precyst with cellulose patches on the cell surface. (D) Mature cyst, the cyst wall appears completely formed and the wrinkled exocyst is clearly detectible.
Fig 4.
Scanning electron micrographs of A. polyphaga showing morphological stages.
(A) Trophozoite of A. polyphaga showing irregular cell shape and acanthopodia structure. (B) SEM showing numerous cysts (yellow arrows) and bacteria cells (red arrow heads). (C) SEM of A. polyphaga cyst showing the typically wrinkle appearance with high ridges over the surface. (D) SEM of Acanthamoeba cyst showing ostioles (yellow arrows) that connect the endocyst and ectocyst layers.
Fig 5.
Phylogenetic tree derived by aligning the 18s rDNA sequence of the strain isolate (41).
The results obtained showed that its 18s rDNA sequence shared considerable homology with A. castellanii.
Fig 6.
Phylogenetic tree derived by aligning the 18s rDNA sequence of the strain isolate (68).
The results obtained showed that its 18s rDNA sequence shared considerable homology with A. polyphaga.