Capsid integrity detection of pathogenic viruses in waters: Recent progress and potential future applications

Area of Science:

• Environmental microbiology
• Virology
• Public health

Background:

• Waterborne pathogenic viruses pose significant public health risks.
• Assessing viral infectivity in water is crucial for public health protection.
• Existing methods struggle to reliably differentiate infectious from inactivated viruses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the development and application of capsid integrity (reverse transcription-) quantitative polymerase chain reaction ((RT-)qPCR) for assessing pathogenic virus infectivity in water.
• To highlight the factors influencing the efficiency of this method.
• To discuss future applications and improvements for real-world monitoring.

Main Methods:

• Utilized capsid integrity reagents (e.g., monoazide dyes) to selectively target inactivated viruses.
• Employed (RT-)qPCR to amplify and detect viral genomes only from intact, potentially infectious viruses.
• Reviewed studies on the application of this method for various virus types and environmental matrices.

Main Results:

• Capsid integrity (RT-)qPCR effectively distinguishes intact viruses from inactivated ones.
• Method efficiency is influenced by reagent treatment conditions, virus type, environmental matrices, and disinfection history.
• Successful application requires optimized virus concentration and process controls for real-world samples.

Conclusions:

• Capsid integrity (RT-)qPCR is a promising tool for monitoring infectious pathogenic viruses in water.
• Further research can optimize the method for diverse conditions and explore integration with next-generation sequencing.
• This technology aids in evaluating disinfection efficacy and ensuring water safety.