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A Small Volume Procedure for Viral Concentration from Water
Published on: February 3, 2015
Development of a virus concentration method using lanthanum-based chemical flocculation coupled with modified
Yanyan Zhang1, Lela K Riley, Mengshi Lin
1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
Journal of Virological Methods
|April 6, 2013
Summary
A new lanthanum-based flocculation method combined with modified membrane filtration effectively concentrates viruses from large water volumes. This approach significantly improves virus detection in water samples compared to direct filtration methods.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Microbiology
- Water Quality
Background:
- Direct membrane filtration for virus concentration is prone to fouling.
- Efficient virus detection in large water volumes is crucial for public health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate a lanthanum-based flocculation method coupled with modified membrane filtration for concentrating viruses from large water volumes.
- To compare the efficiency of this new method with direct filtration techniques for virus recovery.
Main Methods:
- A lanthanum-based flocculation method was used to pre-concentrate viruses from 40 L water samples.
- Two-step membrane filtration using electropositive (1MDS) and electronegative (Mg²⁺-modified HATF) filters was employed.
- Centrifugal ultrafiltration with a 30 kDa cut-off membrane was used for final concentration.
- Virus recovery was assessed using infectivity assays and PCR analysis for MS2 and adenovirus.
Main Results:
- The lanthanum-based method achieved an overall concentration factor of 20,000.
- The Mg²⁺-modified HATF membrane showed high MS2 retention (83.4%).
- Lanthanum-based concentration coupled with modified filtration yielded higher MS2 recovery (17.5%) than direct filtration (10.1% for NanoCeram, 3.3% for 1MDS).
- PCR analysis detected adenovirus with the lanthanum-based method (20.6% for MS2, 19.5% for adenovirus), but not with direct filtration.
Conclusions:
- The lanthanum-based flocculation method combined with modified membrane filtration is a promising technique for detecting waterborne viruses.
- This integrated approach overcomes limitations of direct membrane filtration, offering improved efficiency and broader virus detection capabilities.
