Legionella pneumophila (L. pneumophila), known to cause legionnaires’ disease, has been found in various aquatic environments and man-made water systems. Free living amoebas (FLAs) live in the same environments and can cause infections such as encephalitis, keratitis. | D. M. BURAK, Z. ZEYBEK Turk J Biol 35 (2011) 679-685 © TÜBİTAK doi: Investigation of Legionella pneumophila and free living amoebas in the domestic hot water systems in İstanbul Dilara Meryem BURAK, Zuhal ZEYBEK Department of Biology, Fundamental and Industrial Microbiology, Faculty of Science, İstanbul University, İstanbul - TURKEY Received: Abstract: Legionella pneumophila (L. pneumophila), known to cause legionnaires’ disease, has been found in various aquatic environments and man-made water systems. Free living amoebas (FLAs) live in the same environments and can cause infections such as encephalitis, keratitis. Moreover, FLAs play a major role in L. pneumophila transmission. In the present study, the presence of L. pneumophila and FLAs was examined in water and swab samples obtained from shower heads (hot water) in 61 houses in İstanbul. Nonnutrient agar (NNA) was used for isolation of FLAs in all samples and buffered charcoal yeast extract (BCYE) agar with addition of glycine, vancomycine, polymixin, and natamycin (GVPN) was used for isolation of L. pneumophila. These bacteria have been isolated from of the houses examined and FLAs from 31%. Of the isolated L. pneumophila, were named as L. pneumophila serogroup 2-14 and as L. pneumophila serogroup 1. No significant correlation was found between the presence of L. pneumophila and FLAs. A significant correlation was found between the presence of L. pneumophila and the presence of a central heating system. Key words: Legionella pneumophila, free living amoeba, domestic hot water, shower heads İstanbul’daki evlerin sıcak su sistemlerinde Legionella pneumophila ve özgür yaşayan amiplerin araştırılması Özet: Lejyoner hastalığı etkeni olarak bilinen Legionella pneumophila (L. pneumophila) çeşitli su ortamlarında ve insan yapımı su sistemlerinde bulunmaktadır. Aynı ortamlarda özgür yaşayan amipler de (ÖYA) yaşar ve ensefalit, keratit gibi infeksiyonlara sebep olur.
