Molecular Identification and Sequencing of Mannose Binding Protein (MBP) Gene of Acanthamoeba palestinensis

Acanthamoeba keratitis develops by pathogenic acanthamoeba such as a.palestinensis. indeed this species is one of the known causative agents of amoebic keratitis iniran. mannose binding protein (mbp) is the main pathogenicity factors for developing thissight threatening disease. we aimed to characterize mbp gene in pathogenic acanthamoebaisolates such as a. palestinensis.methods: this experimental research was performed in the school of public health, tehranuniversity of medical sciences, tehran, iran during 2007-2008. a. palestinensis was grownon 2% non-nutrient agar overlaid with escherichia coli. dna extraction was performed usingphenol-chloroform method. pcr reaction and amplification were done using specific primerpairs of mbp. the amplified fragment were purified and sequenced. finally, the obtainedfragment was deposited in the gene data bank.results: a 900 bp pcr-product was recovered after pcr reaction. sequence analysis of thepurified pcr product revealed a gene with 943 nucleotides. homology analysis of theobtained sequence showed 81% similarity with the available mbp gene in the gene data bank.the fragment was deposited in the gene data bank under accession number eu678895conclusion: mbp is known as the most important factor in acanthamoeba pathogenesiscascade. therefore, characterization of this gene can aid in developing better therapeuticagents and even immunization of high-risk people.