Free-living amoebae (FLA) are widely distributed in nature (soil, hot springs, air) and in the human environment (plumbing systems, drinking water networks, swimming pools, hospital environments, etc.). FLA belonging to the genera Acanthamoeba, Balamuthia, Naegleria and Sappinia are important causes of rare, but often serious, diseases in humans and animals. All four genera cause acute and almost fatal infections of the central nervous system. Some of them can also cause infections of the skin, eyes, sinuses, lungs and kidney. In Guadeloupe, in 2008, a 9-year old boy died of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) caused by Naegleria fowleri (commonly referred to as the “brain-eating amoeba”).
FLA also play an important role as vehicles of replication and dispersal for pathogenic bacteria such as Legionella spp., Chlamydophila pneumoniae, Mycobacterium avium, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Francisella tularensis. These amoebae-resisting bacteria (ARB) are a potential health problem as they could also resist to macrophage phagocytosis. FLA can be used as a tool to identity and isolate new potentially pathogenic ARB species from various sources. Many intra-amoebal bacteria have been described so far. However it is likely that the whole FLA microbiome is not fully described. In this work, we are interested in characterizing the microbiome of FLA isolated from different water sources in Guadeloupe and assess the potential of FLA to spread pathogenic ARB that would impact the water quality but also human health in Guadeloupe.
