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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2000, p. 2914-2920, Vol. 66, No. 7
Department of Microbiology and Cell Science,
University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611-0700
Received 15 March 1999/Accepted 11 April 2000
We investigated the direct and indirect effects of mono-, di-, and
trivalent salts (NaCl, MgCl2, and AlCl3) on the
adsorption of several viruses (MS2, PRD-1,
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Influence of Salts on Virus Adsorption to
Microporous Filters
X174, and poliovirus 1)
to microporous filters at different pH values. The filters studied
included Millipore HA (nitrocellulose), Filterite (fiberglass), Whatman
(cellulose), and 1MDS (charged-modified fiber) filters. Each of these
filters except the Whatman cellulose filters has been used in virus
removal and recovery procedures. The direct effects of added salts were considered to be the effects associated with the presence of
the soluble salts. The indirect effects of the added salts were
considered to be (i) changes in the pH values of solutions and (ii) the
formation of insoluble precipitates that could adsorb viruses and be
removed by filtration. When direct effects alone were considered, the salts used in this study promoted virus adsorption, interfered with
virus adsorption, or had little or no effect on virus adsorption, depending on the filter, the virus, and the salt. Although we were able
to confirm previous reports that the addition of aluminum chloride to
water enhances virus adsorption to microporous filters, we found that
the enhanced adsorption was associated with indirect effects rather
than direct effects. The increase in viral adsorption observed
when aluminum chloride was added to water was related to the decrease
in the pH of the water. Similar results could be obtained by adding
HCl. The increased adsorption of viruses in water at pH 7 following
addition of aluminum chloride was probably due to flocculation of
aluminum, since removal of flocs by filtration greatly reduced the
enhancement observed. The only direct effect of aluminum chloride on
virus adsorption that we observed was interference with adsorption to
microporous filters. Under conditions under which hydrophobic
interactions were minimal, aluminum chloride interfered with virus
adsorption to Millipore, Filterite, and 1MDS filters. In most cases,
less than 10% of the viruses adsorbed to filters in the presence
of a multivalent salt and a compound that interfered with
hydrophobic interactions (0.1% Tween 80 or 4 M urea).
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Microbiology and Cell Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-0700. Phone: (352) 392-1885. Fax: (352) 392-5922. E-mail: george{at}micro.ifas.ufl.edu.
Paper number R-07534 from the Florida Agricultural Experiment
Station, Gainesville.
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