Abstract
Vibrio mimicus
is a Gram-negative bacterium, which causes gastroenteritis and is closely related to
Vibrio cholerae
. The environmental reservoir of this bacterium is far from defined.
Acanthamoeba
as well as
Vibrio
species are found in diverse aquatic environments. The present study was aimed to investigate the ability of
A. castellanii
to host
V. mimicus
, the role of bacterial protease on interaction with
A. castellanii
and to disclose the ability of cysts to protect intracellular
V. mimicus
. Co-cultivation, viable counts, gentamicin assay, electron microscopy and statistical analysis showed that co-cultivation of wild type and
luxO
mutant of
V. mimicus
strains with
A. castellanii
did not inhibit growth of the amoeba. On the other hand co-cultivation enhanced growth and survival of
V. mimicus
strains.
Vibrio mimicus
showed intracellular behaviour because bacteria were found to be localized in the cytoplasm of amoeba trophozoites and remain viable for 14 days. The cysts protected intracellular
V. mimicus
from high level of gentamicin. The intracellular growth of
V. mimicus
in
A. castellanii
suggests a role of
A. castellanii
as a host for
V. mimicus
.