Non-radioactive DNA probe and polymerase chain reaction procedures for the specific detection of Acanthamoeba

Acanthamoebae are potential pathogens which can cause serious infections of humans. A non-radioactive rDNA probe and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification procedures which are specific, rapid, sensitive and safe for the detection of Acanthamoeba have been developed. A restriction fragment (126 bp; ArDNA-a) from a variable region of the cloned 26S rDNA unit of Acanthamoeba castellanii (from plasmid pAR2) was labelled by biotinylation. Cells and DNAs were incubated with the labelled rDNA probe to define conditions providing the highest hybridization specificity for Acanthamoeba by both colorimetric and chemiluminescent assays. Four recent isolates of Acanthamoeba, Acanthamoeba polyphaga, various bacteria, Herpes simplex virus, other eukaryotic amoebae and human cell lines, were sources of DNA for testing. The rDNA probe was found to be highly specific for Acanthamoeba and is capable of directly detecting about 250 cells without prior DNA purification. PCR primers for this unique ArDNA-a fragment have also been designed. Amplification of the targeted sequence by PCR using those primers yielded a single product which was specifically generated for Acanthamoeba template DNA and not DNA from the other control cells. This PCR procedure provided increased sensitivity with the direct detection of as few as 10 Acanthamoeba cells.