Free living amoebae (FLA) can be found in different environments, where they feed on diverse microorganisms. Some bacteria preyed by FLA are called amoeba-resistant bacteria (ARB), as they can resist to lysosomal fusion and are capable of multiplying and evading FLA after internalization, propagating in the environment. Despite the health risks due to the existence of pathogenic and opportunistic species that are ARB and the pathogenicity of some FLA species, there are no water quality protocols to analyze the presence of ARB or FLA. In this sense, our study aimed to isolate FLA through amoebal enrichment and to identify ARB using amoebal coculture in water samples from a public park and two hospitals in southern Brazil. As a result, 9 different microorganisms genera have been identified through amoebal coculture, including fastidious Legionella spp. and Bosea vestrisii. From the positive samples for FLA, by amoebal enrichment, Acanthamoeba spp., Vermamoeba vermiformis and Naegleria spp. were identified in 14 amoebic isolates. The methodologies used in this work proved to be effective as simple and low-cost methods to be used in the implementation in water quality control of anthropogenic environments.

游离的活变形虫 (FLA) 可以在不同的环境中找到，它们以各种微生物为食。一些被 FLA 捕食的细菌被称为变形虫抗性细菌 (ARB)，因为它们可以抵抗溶酶体融合，并且能够在内化后繁殖和逃避 FLA，在环境中传播。尽管由于 ARB 的致病性和机会性物种的存在以及某些 FLA 物种的致病性而存在健康风险，但没有用于分析 ARB 或 FLA 存在的水质协议。从这个意义上说，我们的研究旨在通过阿米巴菌富集分离 FLA，并在巴西南部的一个公园和两家医院的水样中使用阿米巴菌共培养来识别 ARB。结果，通过变形虫共培养鉴定了 9 种不同的微生物属，包括挑剔的军团菌属 和Bosea vestrisii。从 FLA 阳性样本中，通过变形虫富集，棘阿米巴属、蠕虫属和奈格勒氏菌属。在 14 个阿米巴分离株中被鉴定出来。在这项工作中使用的方法被证明是有效的简单和低成本的方法，用于实施人为环境的水质控制。