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

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.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• 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]