Hydra-Amoeba system: a double infection with a lethal ending

DESERTI, MARIA IRENE; LORENZO-MORALES, JACOB; ACUÑA, FABIÁN H.

ANAIS DA ACADEMIA BRASILEIRA DE CIENCIAS.

ACAD BRASILEIRA DE CIENCIAS

Lugar: Rio de Janeiro; Año: 2023 vol. 95 p. 1 - 14

0001-3765

Within each ecosystem, organisms and populations maintain a complex set of relationships.These interactions can determine the distribution area of a species and play an essential rolein its evolution. Parasites are ubiquitous components of nature and have a high influence onvarious aspects of the biology and ecology of organisms, affecting the populations of theirhosts and, therefore, their communities and ecosystems. Free-living amoebae areunicellular organisms that can be found in water, soil or air. Some species are of greatimportance in human health. In Hydra there are several reports of Hydramoeba hydroxenainfections. In this work we present a double parasitosis: two concatenated infectiousperiods in the host polyp of Hydra vulgaris and Hydra vulgaris pedunculata for threefreshwater bodies in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Hydramoeba sp. andAcanthoamoeba sp. unchain a series of anatomical lesions that in all cases cause the deathof the polyps due to total disintegration. This finding becomes important at a sanitary leveldue to the appearance of Acanthoamoeba sp. in waters associated with human recreationalactivities; For the Hydra genus, the importance lies at an ecological and evolutionary level,considering the possible impact on its natural populations.