IDENTIFICATION OF NAEGLERIA-FOWLERI AND OTHER NAEGLERIA SPP (FREE-LIVING AMEBAS) USING CELLULOSE-ACETATE MEMBRANE ELECTROPHORESIS OF GLUCOSE PHOSPHATE ISOMERASE

A simple isoenzyme cellulose acetate membrane electrophoresis method w ith respect to glucose phosphate isomerase (GPI) was developed for the differentiation of the human pathogenic free-living amoeba Naegleria fowleri from other Naegleria spp. A single GPI band was detected in al l the species tested, the relative mobility of which could be used to identify N. fowleri. Of the other Naegleria spp., only N. italica and N. jadini shared a common GPI mobility. No intraspecies variation in G PI profile was detected, regardless of whether the strains were cultur ed in monoxenic or axenic media. The technique is proposed as a useful means of identifying N. fowleri soon after isolation from the environ ment.