Population dynamics of Naegleria fowleri in natural aquatic environments throughout the year
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18633/biotecnia.v27.2528Keywords:
free-living amoebae, environmental distribution, meningoencephalitis, termophilicAbstract
We carried out monthly samplings to determine the concentration of Naegleria fowleri in four natural water bodies of the Yaqui Valley, Sonora, Mexico. We measured the temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH of the water. The water samples were shaken and processed to determine the concentration using the most probable number method (MPN) and seeded on non-nutritive agar plates with Escherichia coli. Each amoeba detected was isolated in a new plate to continue with the identification. MPN tables were used for the amoeba count, and the identity of the genera Naegleria and N. fowleri was used using specific primers and end-point PCR. We identified N. fowleri in all four water bodies during the summer and fall seasons, with 70 MPN L-1 as the highest concentration. We selected seven N. fowleri strains for sequencing and genotyping; all belonged to type 2. Through the results, we can affirm that due to the variations that occur in the population dynamics and the ecological diversity of the studied sites, different biotic or abiotic factors, in addition to the temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH, influence the presence or absence of this species. This makes it difficult to predict their presence in natural aquatic environments with relatively low populations.
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