how effective iodine is against acanthamoeba paul e. seibers iii undergraduate student (microbiology...

How Effective Iodine Is Against Acanthamoeba

Paul E. Seibers IIIUndergraduate Student (Microbiology Concentration)

Department of BiologyTennessee Technological University

Cookeville, TN 38505

Project Summary

1. Introductiona. Background of Acanthamoebab. Problem- Disinfectants of today.

2. Objective/hypothesis a. Find better disinfectantb. Iodine is highly effective against Acanthamoeba.

3. Methods and Materials.4. Expected Results and Benefits5. Project Timeline- End of Research March 24, 20066. Budget- $3,786

Introduction

• Acanthamoebas- Single-celled organisms in the Protista kingdom that can cause skin and eye infections.

• Environment: They can inhabit soils, dust, and any type of fresh water, including our drinking water.

• Infectious: Eye infection, lesions on skin, and severe sickness. Accessible through cuts on skin, oral and nasal ingestion, and water splashed in eyes.

• Problem: Chlorine may be a strong disinfectant against bacteria, but Acanthamoeba are more resistant (Cursons and Brown 1980). Form cyst in harsh environments.

Cursons R. T. M, and T. J Brown. 1980. Effect of Disinfectants on Pathogenic Free-Living Amoeba: in Axenic Conditions. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 40: 62-66

Objective/Hypothesis

• Objective- Test effectiveness of Iodine against Acanthamoeba.

• Hypothesis- Iodine is highly effective. Possibly better than chlorine.

Methods and Materials

• 1. Growing Acanthamoebaa. cultivated using PCB(plate count broth), which consists of 5 g bacto

typtone, 2.5 bacto yeast extract, 1 bacto dextrose, and 15 g bacto agar for liter with a final pH of 7.0 ± .2 at 25˚C.

b. Incubated at 25˚C.c. Washed in Osterhoult buffer tris

salt solution

• 2. Determine range of concentration for lethal dose through a practice run.

• 3. Find lethal dose rate.

a. Self-Count amoeba with inverted microscope.

b. Set up iodine concentrations.

c. After amoeba are exposed for a certain length of time, count the number alive.

Expected Results and Benefits

TABLE 1.

Iodine Disinfectent

Vial 1 (10%)

Vial 2 (1%)

Vial 3 (.1%)

Vial 4 (.01%)

Vial 5 (.001)

Vial 6 (.0001)

Acanthamoeba All dead Few dead All alive All alive All alive All alive

• Benefits: 1. By conducting this research, the effectiveness of iodine will be

determined against Acanthamoeba.

2. A question to whether or not iodine would be a suitable disinfectant for

water treatment will be answered.

3. Possibility of iodine being stronger then chlorine.

4. Research could improve the health of people.

Project Timeline

Budget

Total Costs: $3786

Budget

$1696, 44%Fume Hood

$1200, 32%Inverted

Microscope

$30, 1%pipettes

$800, 21%Incubator

$30, 1%vials

$30, 1%Iodine

Questions?