Genetic Variation among Human Isolates of Uninucleated Cyst-Producing Entamoeba Species

Twelve human infections with Entamoeba spp. producing uninucleated cysts were studied. DNA was extracted from infected feces and used to amplify part of the ameba small-subunit rRNA gene. Sequence analysis identified four distinct types of Entamoeba, all of which are related to Entamoeba polecki and E. chattoni and two of which have not been reported previously. Whether these genetic types represent different species is unclear. We propose that the agent of all human infections with uninucleated cyst-producing Entamoeba species be reported as “E. polecki-like.”