ABSTRACT
Free-living amoebae (FLA) belonging to the Acanthamoeba and Sappinia genera, including Balamuthia mandrillaris and Naegleria fowleri species, are mitochondriate and aerobic unicellular eukaryotic protists (1). Acanthamoeba and the other FLA thrive in the natural environment as free-living organisms, but can intermittently invade the host and cause diseases. Acanthamoeba is a protist (plant-like) unicellular eukaryote, which is at an evolutionary distance of over a billion years from Homo sapiens (2).
