Sappinia pedata

The species has gained attention due to its potential medical relevance and has been the subject of most recent and emerging studies in Protistology and Eukaryotic Microbiology as a whole.

[2] Recent phylogenetic studies have suggested that the particular "brain-eating" strain identified in a case of amoebic encephalitis, may represent a new species more closely related to S. pedata than S. diploidea and S.

This close association with S. anomala suggests that the amoebae may also be dispersed phoretically by the same mites that carry the fungus due to their ability to adhere to a wide range of surfaces when in its standing form.

The standing amoeba of S. pedata have a club-shaped appearance that is easily recognized by the nearly colorless to a very pale yellow and slightly opaque texture.

[1] It is worth noting that certain strains of S. pedata have been shown by Wylezich et al., (2009), to have no standing form, suggesting some degree of intraspecific variation in morphology.

[6] Sappinia pedata gained clinical significance in 2003 when it was identified as the causative agent of amoebic encephalitis in a previously healthy young man.

However, further molecular investigations performed by Qvarnstrom et al. in 2009 revealed that the amoebae isolated from the patient's brain tissue were genetically more closely related to S.

Since this initial report, no additional cases of human infection caused by S. pedata or other Sappinia species have been documented and the patient is known to have survived the treatment procedures without any long-term consequences.