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Updated: May 24, 2026

Discovery of New Intracellular Pathogens by Amoebal Coculture and Amoebal Enrichment Approaches
Published on: October 27, 2013
Knowledge of morphology is still required when identifying new amoeba isolates by molecular techniques
Johan F De Jonckheere1, Sophie Gryseels, Miriam Eddyani
1Research Unit for Tropical Diseases, de Duve Institute, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium. johan.dejonckheere@uclouvain.be
Abstract:
We have isolated several free-living amoeba strains from the environment in Ghana, which have internal transcribed spacers, including the 5.8S rDNA, sequences similar to sequences attributed to Vahlkampfiidae (Heterolobosea) in databases. However, morphological examination shows that the isolates belong to the Hartmannellidae (Amoebozoa). We provide evidence that the sequences in the databases are wrongly classified as belonging to a genus or species of the Vahlkampfiidae, but rather belong to strains of the genus Hartmannella.
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