PROFILES OF A PATHOGENIC ENTAMOEBA HISTOLYTICA–LIKE VARIANT WITH VARIATIONS IN THE NUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCE OF THE SMALL SUBUNIT RIBOSOMAL RNA ISOLATED FROM A PRIMATE (DE BRAZZA'S GUENON)

Abstract A pathogenic Entamoeba histolytica–like variant (JSK2004) with genetic variations and a novel isoenzyme pattern was isolated from a De Brazza's guenon. A homology of 99.1% was found between the clones of E. histolytica (HM-1:IMSS) and JSK2004 in the 1,893 nucleotide bases of the small subunit rRNA (SSU-rRNA) gene. The DNA of the pathogenic amoeba species was also extracted from two sterile liver abscesses during the autopsies of an Abyssinian colobus and a Geoffroy's spider monkey occurring in the same institution in which JSK2004 was isolated, and the homology of the nucleotide sequences in the SSU-rRNA gene of the DNAs was identical to that of JSK2004.