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Isolation and Identification of Acanthamoeba Healyi as Endosymbiont to
Marphysa Moribidii
Sharifah Aminah Binti Tuan Said
Supervisor: Dr. Fatimah Hashim
Co-supervisor: Dr. Malinna binti Jusoh
Bachelor of Science (Biological Sciences)
School of Fundamental Science
In this study, polychaete Marphysa moribidii were collected from Morib beach,
Selangor. Amoeba were obtained by swabbing technique from the dissected gut area
of the M.moribidii. By using the light microscope and scanning electron microscope,
the morphology of the pure culture of amoeba’s cyst and trophozoite was obtained.
Two different shape of cyst were obtained which are round shape and squareshape
while the average size are 16.27 µm and 16.90 µm respectively while the
trophozoites’s average length was 24.88 µm. Scanning electron microscope were used
to study the surface structure of amoeba which visualized the ostioles at the surface
of the amoeba. From Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) the species of the amoeba
was identified. The amoeba gene in the 18S SSU ribosomal RNA (rRNA) isolated was
very similar (98% sequence identity) to Acanthamoebahealyi DNA sequence at
GenBank under accession number of GQ996532.1 with 92% query cover. The
morphological character examined by using both light microscope and scanning
electron microscope supported by the results of the molecular identification are
confirming that the organism isolated from the gut of M.moribidii was
Acanthamoebahealyi. The identification of A.healyi allow its role towards the
M.moribidii to be studied further in the future.
336 | U M T U N D E R G R A D U A T E R E S E A R C H D A Y 2018