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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2001, p. 2484-2488, Vol. 67, No. 6
Laboratoire de Virologie, CHU Hotel Dieu,
Nantes,1 I.U.T, Department of Statistics
and Data Processing, Metz,2 and
LCPME-Virology, Faculty of Pharmacy,
Nancy,3 France
Received 4 January 2001/Accepted 21 March 2001
The aim of this study was to select one or several virus extraction
techniques that enable simultaneous detection of enterovirus genomes
and infectious particles in different types of urban sludge. Eight
techniques were compared by using 16 different liquid and solid sludge
samples. The numbers of infectious enteroviruses in cell cultures were
determined by using the most-probable-number method. The enterovirus
genome was quantified by a single-tube reverse transcription-PCR using
TaqMan technology. The results were statistically analyzed by
Friedman's test, a nonparametric test for analysis of randomized block
data using only ranks in terms of extraction technique efficiency. Two
techniques seemed to yield higher viral titers as determined by
simultaneous detection by cell culture and PCR. The first involved a
10% beef extract solution at pH 9 and sonication; the second involved
a 0.3 M NaCl-7% beef extract solution at pH 7.5 followed by Freon
treatment. In solid sludge, no significant differences were observed
among the eight techniques tested. Both of the best techniques can be
used for simultaneous detection of infectious enterovirus particles and
genomes in any type of urban sludge.
The methods used to detect
enteroviruses in environmental samples are of two general kinds, those
based on cell culture infectivity and those in which molecular
detection methods are used, such as PCR followed by nucleic acid
hybridization (13). Environmental samples, especially
urban sludge, contain numerous organic and inorganic compounds (humic
acids, polyphenols, heavy metals) which are toxic and cause lysis in
cell cultures. These compounds are also liable to form complexes with
nucleic acids and inhibit amplification enzymes (9, 15,
18). The results of cell culture analysis and PCR therefore
depend on the efficacy with which the viral extraction technique used
removes such compounds. The aim of this study was to select one or
several of eight previously described viral extraction techniques which
would allow simultaneous cell culture and reverse transcription
(RT)-PCR analyses for quantification of enteroviruses in sludge
samples. We hoped to identify a screening method applicable on a large
scale which was based on a real-time genomic quantification technique
and allowed confirmation of infectivity with the same viral sludge
concentrate. The efficiency of elution was evaluated by counting
infectious enteroviruses (most-probable-number cytopathogenic units
[MPNCU]/10 g of dry matter) and quantifying enterovirus genomes
(number of copies per 10 g of dry matter) by a fluorogenic RT-PCR
method developed in our laboratory (14).
Residual sludge.
Four types of sludge (16 samples) were
obtained from two wastewater treatment plants in Lorraine (Nancy and
Metz, France). At the Nancy plant, biological sludge produced during
treatment of wastewater undergoes mesophilic anaerobic digestion at 37 to 38°C for 15 to 20 days, while at the Metz site sludge is also thickened, dehydrated, and packed. Primary sludge was obtained from the
primary decanting ponds of the Nancy and Metz treatment plants.
Activated, thickened, and digested sludge from a secondary decanting
pond was obtained from the Metz plant. The dry matter content of each
sludge sample was determined after the sample was desiccated by
incubation at 105°C for 24 h, and the dry matter contents ranged
from 3 to 4% for primary sludge, from 0.4 to 0.6% for activated
sludge, from 1.6 to 2.3% for thickened sludge, and from 24 to 33% for
digested sludge.
Virus extraction techniques. (i) Virus elution.
Virus was
eluted from quantities of sludge equivalent to 10 g of dry matter
by using eight previously described techniques. The differences between
techniques included differences in the pH of the elution solution, the
homogenization method, and the use of sonication.
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.6.2484-2488.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Best Viral Elution Method Available for
Quantification of Enteroviruses in Sludge by Both Cell Culture and
Reverse Transcription-PCR
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ABSTRACT
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results and Discussion
References
![]()
INTRODUCTION
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results and Discussion
References
![]()
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results and Discussion
References
(ii) Virus concentration. For virus concentration we used polyethylene glycol 6000 precipitation as described by Lewis and Metcalf (11); 8% (wt/vol) polyethylene glycol 6000 (in a phosphate solution at pH 7.2) was added to each extract. After rigorous agitation the mixture was kept at 4°C overnight and then centrifuged at 10,000 × g for 90 min at 4°C. The pellet, suspended in 12 ml of phosphate buffer (pH 7.2), constituted the concentrate; as a final step the pellet was decontaminated by adding 0.33 volume of chloroform.
Cell culture. Infectious enteroviruses were counted by inoculating decontaminated concentrates into in vitro buffalo green monkey cell cultures in 96-well microplates. All cultures were inoculated in duplicate by using 40 wells for each dilution. Each well was filled with 50 µl of inoculum and 200 µl of nutritive medium (Eagle minimum essential medium [Eurobio] with 5% newborn calf serum) containing 1.5 × 105 cells/ml. The cells were incubated at 37°C in 5% CO2 for 5 days.
Viral density was determined from the cytopathogenic effects observed after duplicate inoculation of cell layers with three successive 10-fold dilutions of a sample. After confirmation by transfer of 50-µl portions of the supernatants to new microplates, the mean viral concentration of the samples was estimated by using the most-probable-number method with software described by Maul (12). Thus, each viral concentration was determined from a combination of the positive responses observed in the 40 wells inoculated for each of three successive 10-fold dilutions. The final result for each sample analyzed was expressed as the geometric mean of the concentrations calculated for two independent replicates. The results were expressed in MPNCU per milliliter of concentrate and then converted to MPNCU per 10 g (dry weight) of sludge to account for sludge dryness.Viral RNA extraction. Enterovirus RNA was extracted from 250 µl of concentrate with an RNeasy plant mini kit (Qiagen, Courtaboeuf, France) according to the manufacturer's instructions. However, a modified lysis buffer containing 2% (wt/vol) polyvinylpyrrolidone PVP 40,000 (Sigma, St. Quentin, France) was used (6, 19, 21).
Flurogenic RT-PCR. To design the primers and probe used for the TaqMan technique, the most constant genome region in enteroviruses, the 5' noncoding region, was chosen (14). The software Primer Express was used, and this software identified primer Ev1 (5'-GATTGTCACCATAAGCAGC-3'; positions 579 to 597), primer Ev2 (5'-CCCCTGAATGCGGCTAATC-3'; positions 451 to 469), and probe Ev-probe (5'-FAM-CGGAACCGACTACTTTGGGTGTCCGT-TAMRA-phosphor-3'; positions 532 to 557).
The reaction mixture (final volume, 25 µl) was prepared in a single tube and contained 1× TaqMan buffer A (Perkin-Elmer, Courtaboeuf, France), 5.5 mM MgCl2 (Perkin-Elmer), each deoxynucleoside triphosphate (Roche, Meylan, France) at a concentration of 500 µM, 500 nM reverse primer Ev1 (Genosys, Pampisford, England), 400 nM primer Ev2 (Genosys), 120 nM Ev-probe (Eurogentec, Serraing, Belgium), 6% glycerol (Prolabo, Fontenay-sous-bois, France), 1.7% polyvinylpyrrolidone 25 (PVP-25; Serva, Paris, France), 1.5 µg of T4 gene 32 protein (Amersham, Orsay, France), 5 IU of murine leukemia virus reverse transcriptase (Perkin-Elmer), 2.5 IU of AmpliTaq Gold (Perkin-Elmer), and 10 IU of RNasin (Promega, Charbonnière, France). Twenty microliters of the reaction mixture was added to a PCR tube containing 5 µl of RNA from one of the sludge samples or RNA from the standard constructed for serial dilution. Enterovirus RNA was reverse transcribed into cDNA (45 min at 50°C), and the 147-bp fragment was amplified by PCR (15 s at 94°C and 1 min at 60°C) for 45 cycles with an ABI Prism 7700 (Perkin-Elmer).Analysis of fluorescence signals with the ABI Prism 7700. Real-time fluorescence measurements were obtained, and the threshold cycle (Ct) value for each sample was calculated by determining the point at which fluorescence exceeded a threshold limit (10 times the baseline standard deviation). A standard graph of the Ct values obtained with a serially diluted external RNA standard was prepared. Ct values obtained from the sludge samples were plotted on the standard curve, and the number of copies was calculated automatically by the software Sequence Detector. Samples were considered negative if their Ct values exceeded 45 cycles.
Statistical analysis. A statistical analysis of each quantification result was performed by using Friedman's test (7), a nonparametric test of randomized block data using only the ranks of the extraction techniques in terms of their efficiency. If the null hypothesis was rejected (i.e., the techniques were not equivalent), the next step was to rank the extraction techniques by their relative efficiencies.
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION |
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The results obtained with the eight extraction techniques for four
types of sludge are shown in Table 1. The
theoretical coefficient of variation characterizing the
most-probable-number method when 40 wells per dilution level are
inoculated is approximately 20%. To analyze the results statistically,
we decided to use nonparametric methods, mainly because of their
robustness and because they would allow much easier handling of the
large amount of censored data present. Friedman's test was therefore
performed and produced the following results.
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Cell culture. When the cell culture results obtained for the liquid sludge samples. (samples 1 to 9) were examined, the efficiencies of different techniques were found to differ significantly (Friedman's test, P = 0.004); the most efficient techniques were techniques 2, 5, and 6. The results obtained for the solid sludge samples (samples 10 to 16), however, did not allow any differences in the efficiencies of the eight techniques studied to be distinguished (Friedman's test, P > 0.1). When all of the samples analyzed were considered as a whole, the efficiencies of the eight elution techniques differed significantly (Friedman's test, P = 0.011). The most efficient technique was found to be technique 5, followed by techniques 6 and 2.
RT-PCR. When the RT-PCR results obtained for the liquid sludge samples (samples 1 to 9) were examined, no significant differences between techniques were observed (Friedman's test, P = 0.082). A tendency was nevertheless perceptible; techniques 3, 5, and 6 seemed to yield higher viral titers. The results obtained for the solid sludge samples (samples 10 to 16), on the other hand, did not allow any differences in the efficiencies of the eight techniques studied to be distinguished (Friedman's test, P > 0.1). When all of the samples analyzed were considered as a whole, no ranking of the eight elution techniques was possible (Friedman's test, P > 0.1). The fact that it was impossible to rank the eight techniques may have been due in part to the low levels of contamination of the sludge samples and in part to the extreme heterogeneity of the samples. Moreover, even if viruses are inactivated during extraction, they remain detectable by PCR, which puts the different techniques on the same footing. The different techniques therefore appear to have the same capacity to extract all viruses (dead and alive) but not the same capacity to extract live viruses. Overall, the best results for both culture and PCR analyses were obtained with techniques 5 and 6, in which 0.03 M NaCl-7% beef extract (pH 7.5) and 10% beef extract (pH 9) solutions, respectively, were used. No significant differences were observed among the eight techniques with solid sludge samples (samples 10 to 16), and techniques 5 and 6 seemed to yield higher viral titers for either quantification method and all types of sludge. Our preference is for technique 6, which does not require Freon and is therefore free of the environmental disposal problems posed by this ingredient.
The quantities of enteroviruses detected varied considerably from one sample to another. For primary sludge, for example, the quantities varied from <3 to 2.24 × 103 MPNCU/10 g (dry weight) and from <400 to 3.84 × 105 copies/10 g (dry weight). The mean quantities detected in primary sludge were 457 MPNCU/10 g and 1.37 × 105 copies/10 g. The equivalent values were 29 MPNCU/10 g and 9.36 × 103 copies/10 g in activated sludge, 9 MPNCU/10 g and 1.06 × 104 copies/10 g in thickened sludge, and 7 MPNCU/10 g and 4.8 × 104 copies/10 g in digested sludge. From primary sludge to activated sludge, therefore, the quantities of virus decreased by a factor of 16 in terms of infectivity and by a factor of 15 in terms of genomes. Then from activated sludge to thickened sludge they decreased by a factor of 3 in terms of infectivity but remained unchanged in terms of genomes. Finally, from thickened sludge to digested sludge they decreased slightly, by a factor of 1.3, in terms of infectivity and increased by a factor of 4.5 in terms of genomes. The values for quantities of infectious particles agree with those published previously. Thus, in 10 g of primary sludge, Hu et al. (C. J. Hu, R. A. Gibbs, G. E. Ho, P. Phillips, and I. Unkovich, 3rd Int. Conf. Appropriate Waste Manag. Technol. Dev. Countries, 1995) detected 1.6 × 104 IU, Soares et al. (17) detected 330 MPNCU, and Pederson (16) detected 3.9 × 103 PFU. These values demonstrate the extreme heterogeneity of sludge samples. We also showed that there are considerable decreases in the quantities of viruses in terms of both infectivity and genomes from primary sludge to the other types of sludge, and again our values were consistent with those published previously. Hu et al. (Hu et al., 3rd Int. Conf. Appropriate Waste Manag. Technol. Dev. Countries), Pederson (16), and Soares et al. (17) detected 2.9 IU/10 g, 7.9 PFU/10 g, and 16 MPNCU/10 g, respectively, in digested and dehydrated sludge. However, no change in the genomic viral load
or even a slight increase
was found from activated sludge to
digested sludge. This could be explained by denaturation of the viral
capsid during elution and by the ability of RT-PCR to detect inactive
or dead particles or particles that are difficult to culture. This was
also shown by the differences between the results obtained by PCR and
the results obtained by cell culturing. Indeed, 41 samples were found
to be PCR positive but culture negative. Given the fragility of RNA
genomes, it is very likely that the genomes detected in these cases
were protected by the capsids of damaged viruses or were
noncytopathogenic. Nevertheless, 12 samples were found to be PCR
negative but culture positive. These results could be explained as
being due to the presence of PCR inhibitors.
In conclusion, the purpose of this study was to test several methods
for extracting virus particles in sludge which make use of cell culture
and fluorogenic RT-PCR. The latter technique can be used for a large
number of samples and has proved to be quite rapid, sensitive, and
reproducible compared to the cell culture method. Of the eight
extraction methods studied, two in which solutions based on beef
extract were used seemed to yield higher viral titers with both cell
culture and PCR techniques. Technique 6 allows a sludge testing
protocol to be set up which is rapid and capable of determining
quantities of viral genomes and subsequently the proportion of
infectious particles by using the same sludge sample concentrate. This
could prove to be very useful in strategies in which sludge samples
from wastewater treatment plants are screened and the infectivity of
any genome detected is confirmed if necessary.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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This study was based on work supported by the French Ministry of the Environment, A.d.e.m.e (the French Environment and Energy Management Agency), Anjou Recherche (Vivendi Water), Lyonnaise des Eaux, and the International Water Center (N.A.N.C.I.E.)
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FOOTNOTES |
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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratoire de Virologie, CHU Hotel Dieu, 9 quai moncousu, 44035 Nantes, France. Phone: (33)-2-40084101. Fax: (33)-2-40084139. E-mail: sbillaudel{at}chu-nantes.fr.
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