Acanthamoeba is known to interact with a plethora of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and viruses. In these interactions, the amoebae can be predatory in nature, transmission vehicle or an incubator. Amoebae consume microorganisms, especially bacteria, as food source to fulfil their nutritional needs by taking up bacteria through phagocytosis and lysing them in phagolysosomes and hence play an eminent role in the regulation of bacterial density in the nature and accountable for eradication of around 60% of the bacterial population in the environment. Acanthamoeba can also act as a “Trojan horse” for microbial transmission in the environment. Additionally, Acanthamoeba may serve as an incubator-like reservoir for microorganisms, including those that are pathogenic to humans, where the microorganisms use amoebae’s defences to resist harsh environment and evade host defences and drugs, whilst growing in numbers inside the amoebae. Furthermore, amoebae can also be used as a “genetic melting pot” where exchange of genes as well as adaptation of microorganisms, leading to higher pathogenicity, may arise. Here, we describe bacteria, fungi and viruses that are known to interact with Acanthamoeba spp.

已知棘阿米巴与大量微生物相互作用，例如细菌、真菌和病毒。在这些相互作用中，变形虫在本质上可以是捕食者、传播媒介或孵化器。变形虫以微生物，尤其是细菌为食物来源，通过吞噬作用吸收细菌并在吞噬溶酶体中溶解它们来满足其营养需求，因此在自然界中调节细菌密度方面发挥着重要作用，并负责根除约 60% 的变形虫。环境中的细菌数量。棘阿米巴还可以充当微生物在环境中传播的“特洛伊木马”。此外，棘阿米巴可以作为微生物的孵化器样水库，包括那些对人类致病的微生物，其中微生物利用变形虫的防御来抵抗恶劣的环境并逃避宿主防御和药物，同时在变形虫内部增加数量。此外，变形虫还可以用作“基因熔炉”，在那里可能会发生基因交换和微生物适应，从而导致更高的致病性。在这里，我们描述了已知与棘阿米巴属相互作用的细菌、真菌和病毒。