Hartmanella vermiformis can be permissive for Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

AIMS

The amoebae of the genus Hartmanella are frequently recovered from hospital water taps, whereas Pseudomonas aeruginosa is often implicated in nosocomial infections. Previous works suggested that free living amoebae can act as vehicles of bacterial transmission. The present work investigates the relationships between a strain of Hartmanella vermiformis and three strains of P. aeruginosa: a reference strain, a strain from a patient and an environmental strain.

METHODS AND RESULTS

In a saline medium, H. vermiformis is not able to favour for the development of P. aeruginosa. In a rich co-cultivation medium, only the environmental strain has shown a growth.

CONCLUSIONS

We showed that P. aeruginosa is not a good nutrient source for H. vermiformis.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

Nevertheless, in particular conditions and with particular strains, the presence of H. vermiformis could represent a possibility of growth for P. aeruginosa.