Isolation of Giant Viruses of Acanthamoeba castellanii

Talita Bastos Machado; Isabella Luiza Martins de Aquino; Jônatas Santos Abrahão

doi:10.1002/cpz1.455

Isolation of Giant Viruses of Acanthamoeba castellanii

Curr Protoc. 2022 May;2(5):e455. doi: 10.1002/cpz1.455.

Authors

Talita Bastos Machado¹, Isabella Luiza Martins de Aquino¹, Jônatas Santos Abrahão¹

Affiliation

¹ Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Microbiologia, Laboratório de Vírus, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

PMID: 35612516
DOI: 10.1002/cpz1.455

Abstract

This article describes a practical method for prospecting and isolating giant viruses based on direct inoculation of environmental samples into amoeba cultures of Acanthamoeba castellanii. The giant viruses that infect amoebas have already been isolated from various environmental samples in several countries worldwide, including in extreme environments. Here we describe the methodologic procedures regarding the prospecting of giant viruses in A. castellanii, including the preparation of environmental samples, the culture of amoebas, and the observation of cytopathic effects that can indicate the presence and potential isolation of giant viruses. © 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: Sample collection Support Protocol: Propagation of Acanthamoeba castellanii Basic Protocol 2: Prospecting of giant viruses in environmental samples by cytopathic effect analysis.

Keywords: Acanthamoeba castellanii; cytopathic effect; giant viruses; virus prospecting.

MeSH terms

Acanthamoeba castellanii*
Amoeba*
Giant Viruses*