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Various brain-eating amoebae: the protozoa, the pathogenesis, and the disease. Front Med 2021; 15:842-866. [PMID: 34825341 DOI: 10.1007/s11684-021-0865-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 04/25/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Among various genera of free-living amoebae prevalent in nature, some members are identified as causative agents of human encephalitis, in which Naegleria fowleri followed by Acanthamoeba spp. and Balamuthia mandrillaris have been successively discovered. As the three dominant genera responsible for infections, Acanthamoeba and Balamuthia work as opportunistic pathogens of granulomatous amoebic encephalitis in immunocompetent and immunocompromised individuals, whereas Naegleria induces primary amoebic meningoencephalitis mostly in healthy children and young adults as a more violent and deadly disease. Due to the lack of typical symptoms and laboratory findings, all these amoebic encephalitic diseases are difficult to diagnose. Considering that subsequent therapies are also affected, all these brain infections cause significant mortality worldwide, with more than 90% of the cases being fatal. Along with global warming and population explosion, expanding areas of human and amoebae activity in some regions lead to increased contact, resulting in more serious infections and drawing increased public attention. In this review, we summarize the present information of these pathogenic free-living amoebae, including their phylogeny, classification, biology, and ecology. The mechanisms of pathogenesis, immunology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, epidemiology, diagnosis, and therapies are also discussed.
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Abstract
Ever since its discovery, the double-stranded DNA contained in the mitochondria of eukaryotes has fascinated researchers because of its bacterial endosymbiotic origin, crucial role in encoding subunits of the respiratory complexes, compact nature, and specific inheritance mechanisms. In the last few years, high-throughput sequencing techniques have accelerated the sequencing of mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) and uncovered the great diversity of organizations, gene contents, and modes of replication and transcription found in living eukaryotes. Some early divergent lineages of unicellular eukaryotes retain certain synteny and gene content resembling those observed in the genomes of alphaproteobacteria (the inferred closest living group of mitochondria), whereas others adapted to anaerobic environments have drastically reduced or even lost the mitogenome. In the three main multicellular lineages of eukaryotes, mitogenomes have pursued diverse evolutionary trajectories in which different types of molecules (circular versus linear and single versus multipartite), gene structures (with or without self-splicing introns), gene contents, gene orders, genetic codes, and transfer RNA editing mechanisms have been selected. Whereas animals have evolved a rather compact mitochondrial genome between 11 and 50 Kb in length with a highly conserved gene content in bilaterians, plants exhibit large mitochondrial genomes of 66 Kb to 11.3 Mb with large intergenic repetitions prone to recombination, and fungal mitogenomes have intermediate sizes of 12 to 236 Kb.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafael Zardoya
- Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
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Bondarenko N, Volkova E, Masharsky A, Kudryavtsev A, Smirnov A. A Comparative Characterization of the Mitochondrial Genomes of Paramoeba aparasomata and Neoparamoeba pemaquidensis (Amoebozoa, Paramoebidae). J Eukaryot Microbiol 2019; 67:167-175. [PMID: 31600008 DOI: 10.1111/jeu.12767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2019] [Revised: 09/01/2019] [Accepted: 09/29/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Marine amebae of the genus Paramoeba (Amoebozoa, Dactylopodida) normally contain a eukaryotic endosymbiont known as Perkinsela-like organism (PLO). This is one of the characters to distinguish the genera Neoparamoeba and Paramoeba from other Dactylopodida. It is known that the PLO may be lost, but PLO-free strains of paramoebians were never available for molecular studies. Recently, we have described the first species of the genus Paramoeba which has no parasome-Paramoeba aparasomata. In this study, we present a mitochondrial genome of this species, compare it with that of Neoparamoeba pemaquidensis, and analyze the evolutionary dynamics of gene sequences and gene order rearrangements between these species. The mitochondrial genome of P. aparasomata is 46,254 bp long and contains a set of 31 protein-coding genes, 19 tRNAs, two rRNA genes, and 7 open reading frames. Our results suggest that these two mitochondrial genomes within the genus Paramoeba have rather similar organization and gene order, base composition, codon usage, the composition and structure of noncoding, and overlapping regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalya Bondarenko
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia
| | - Ekaterina Volkova
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Protistology, Zoological Institute RAS, Universitetskaya nab. 1, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia
| | - Alexey Masharsky
- Core Facility Centre for Molecular and Cell Technologies, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia
| | - Alexander Kudryavtsev
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia.,Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Protistology, Zoological Institute RAS, Universitetskaya nab. 1, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia
| | - Alexey Smirnov
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia
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Samba-Louaka A, Delafont V, Rodier MH, Cateau E, Héchard Y. Free-living amoebae and squatters in the wild: ecological and molecular features. FEMS Microbiol Rev 2019; 43:415-434. [DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fuz011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2018] [Accepted: 04/30/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Free-living amoebae are protists frequently found in water and soils. They feed on other microorganisms, mainly bacteria, and digest them through phagocytosis. It is accepted that these amoebae play an important role in the microbial ecology of these environments. There is a renewed interest for the free-living amoebae since the discovery of pathogenic bacteria that can resist phagocytosis and of giant viruses, underlying that amoebae might play a role in the evolution of other microorganisms, including several human pathogens. Recent advances, using molecular methods, allow to bring together new information about free-living amoebae. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the newly gathered insights into (1) the free-living amoeba diversity, assessed with molecular tools, (2) the gene functions described to decipher the biology of the amoebae and (3) their interactions with other microorganisms in the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ascel Samba-Louaka
- Laboratoire Ecologie et Biologie des Interactions (EBI), Equipe Microbiologie de l'Eau, Université de Poitiers, UMR CNRS 7267, 1 rue Georges Bonnet, TSA51106, 86073 POITIERS Cedex 9, France
| | - Vincent Delafont
- Laboratoire Ecologie et Biologie des Interactions (EBI), Equipe Microbiologie de l'Eau, Université de Poitiers, UMR CNRS 7267, 1 rue Georges Bonnet, TSA51106, 86073 POITIERS Cedex 9, France
| | - Marie-Hélène Rodier
- Laboratoire Ecologie et Biologie des Interactions (EBI), Equipe Microbiologie de l'Eau, Université de Poitiers, UMR CNRS 7267, 1 rue Georges Bonnet, TSA51106, 86073 POITIERS Cedex 9, France
- Laboratoire de Parasitologie et Mycologie, CHU La Milétrie, 2 rue de la Milétrie, 86021 Poitiers Cedex, France
| | - Estelle Cateau
- Laboratoire Ecologie et Biologie des Interactions (EBI), Equipe Microbiologie de l'Eau, Université de Poitiers, UMR CNRS 7267, 1 rue Georges Bonnet, TSA51106, 86073 POITIERS Cedex 9, France
- Laboratoire de Parasitologie et Mycologie, CHU La Milétrie, 2 rue de la Milétrie, 86021 Poitiers Cedex, France
| | - Yann Héchard
- Laboratoire Ecologie et Biologie des Interactions (EBI), Equipe Microbiologie de l'Eau, Université de Poitiers, UMR CNRS 7267, 1 rue Georges Bonnet, TSA51106, 86073 POITIERS Cedex 9, France
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Bondarenko N, Glotova A, Nassonova E, Masharsky A, Polev D, Smirnov A. The complete mitochondrial genome of Paravannella minima (Amoebozoa, Discosea, Vannellida). Eur J Protistol 2019; 68:80-87. [PMID: 30716623 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejop.2019.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2018] [Revised: 12/24/2018] [Accepted: 01/09/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
We present a complete sequence and describe the organization of the mitochondrial genome of the amoeba Paravannella minima (Amoebooza, Discosea, Vannellida). This tiny species represents a branch at the base of Vannellida tree, to the moment being its earliest-branching lineage. The circular mitochondrial DNA of this species has 53,464 bp in length and contains 30 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNAs, 23 transfer RNAs, and 15 open reading frames. This genome is significantly longer and contains more protein-coding genes than any yet sequenced mitochondrial genome of vannellid amoebae. Unlike the previously sequenced mitochondrial genomes of Vannellida, which should be translated using the "Table 4" (the mold, protozoan, and coelenterate mitochondrial code), that of P. minima can be properly translated using the universal genetic code.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalya Bondarenko
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia.
| | - Anna Glotova
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Elena Nassonova
- Laboratory of Cytology of Unicellular Organisms, Institute of Cytology RAS, Tikhoretsky Ave. 4, 194064 St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Alexey Masharsky
- Core Facility Centre for Molecular and Cell Technologies, St. Petersburg State University, Botanicheskaya ul. 17, Stary Peterhof, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Dmitry Polev
- Core Facility Centre Biobank, St. Petersburg State University, Botanicheskaya ul. 17, Stary Peterhof, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Alexey Smirnov
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia
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