This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Caballero, S.
Right arrow Articles by Bosch, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Caballero, S.
Right arrow Articles by Bosch, A.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Caballero, S.
Right arrow Articles by Bosch, A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2004, p. 3904-3909, Vol. 70, No. 7
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.7.3904-3909.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Rotavirus Virus-Like Particles as Surrogates in Environmental Persistence and Inactivation Studies

Santiago Caballero,1 F. Xavier Abad,1 Fabienne Loisy,2 Françoise S. Le Guyader,2 Jean Cohen,3 Rosa M. Pintó,1 and Albert Bosch1*

Enteric Virus Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain,1 Microbiology Laboratory, Ifremer, Nantes,2 Molecular and Structural Virology, CNRS-INRA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France3

Received 13 November 2003/ Accepted 29 March 2004

Virus-like particles (VLPs) with the full-length VP2 and VP6 rotavirus capsid proteins, produced in the baculovirus expression system, have been evaluated as surrogates of human rotavirus in different environmental scenarios. Green fluorescent protein-labeled VLPs (GFP-VLPs) and particles enclosing a heterologous RNA (pseudoviruses), whose stability may be monitored by flow cytometry and antigen capture reverse transcription-PCR, respectively, were used. After 1 month in seawater at 20°C, no significant differences were observed between the behaviors of GFP-VLPs and of infectious rotavirus, whereas pseudovirus particles showed a higher decay rate. In the presence of 1 mg of free chlorine (FC)/liter both tracers persisted longer in freshwater at 20°C than infectious viruses, whereas in the presence of 0.2 mg of FC/liter no differences were observed between tracers and infectious rotavirus at short contact times. However, from 30 min of contact with FC onward, the decay of infectious rotavirus was higher than that of recombinant particles. The predicted Ct value for a 90% reduction of GFP-VLPs or pseudoviruses induces a 99.99% inactivation of infectious rotavirus. Both tracers were more resistant to UV light irradiation than infectious rotavirus in fresh and marine water. The effect of UV exposure was more pronounced on pseudovirus than in GFP-VLPs. In all types of water, the UV dose to induce a 90% reduction of pseudovirus ensures a 99.99% inactivation of infectious rotavirus. Recombinant virus surrogates open new possibilities for the systematic validation of virus removal practices in actual field situations where pathogenic agents cannot be introduced.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, University of Barcelona, Avda. Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain. Phone: (34) 934034620. Fax: (34) 934034629. E-mail: abosch{at}ub.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2004, p. 3904-3909, Vol. 70, No. 7
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.7.3904-3909.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Symonds, E. M., Griffin, D. W., Breitbart, M. (2009). Eukaryotic Viruses in Wastewater Samples from the United States. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 1402-1409 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Loisy, F., Atmar, R. L., Le Saux, J.-C., Cohen, J., Caprais, M.-P., Pommepuy, M., Le Guyader, F. S. (2005). Use of Rotavirus Virus-Like Particles as Surrogates To Evaluate Virus Persistence in Shellfish. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 6049-6053 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»