Identification of two genetic markers that distinguish pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains of Acanthamoeba spp.

Species-level identification of Acanthamoeba isolates is difficult and gives little or no indication of the isolate's pathogenicity. We identified two amplification-based genetic markers that were highly correlated with pathogenicity in Acanthamoeba spp. One marker, designed to amplify a 485-bp fragment of the small-subunit ribosomal RNA gene (ssrDNA), was preferentially amplified from the nonpathogenic strains; amplifications from the pathogenic strains yielded anomalous fragments of 650 and 900 bp. A second marker was developed on the basis of the anomalous 650-bp fragment. Primers to this sequence preferentially amplified a noncoding locus (called Ac6) only from the pathogenic strains. These two genetic markers may be useful for identification of pathogenic Acanthamoeba spp. strains.