Concentration of MS2 phage in river water by a combined ferric colloid adsorption and foam separation-based method, with MS2 phage leaching from ferric colloid

• Published in: Journal of bioscience and bioengineering 2016-08, Vol.122 (2), p.252-256
• Main Authors: Suzuki, Yoshihiro, Kobayashi, Takumi, Nishiyama, Masateru, Kono, Tomoya
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adsorption; Caseins - chemistry; Colloids - chemistry; Concentration method; Deferoxamine - chemistry; Detection; Ferric colloid absorption; Ferric Compounds - chemistry; Foam separation; Levivirus - genetics; Levivirus - isolation & purification; MS2 phage; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Rivers - virology
• ISSN: 1389-1723; 1347-4421
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiosc.2016.01.003

The concentration of MS2 phage as a model RNA virus in river water using a combined ferric colloid adsorption and foam separation-based method was examined. The MS2 phage concentrations were determined by the plaque-forming unit (PFU) method and reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis. When ferric colloid adsorption was performed prior to foam separation, MS2 phage was effectively removed from river water and concentrated in the generated foam within 7 min. The removal efficiency was >99% at the optimum iron and casein concentrations of 5 mg-Fe/L and 10 mg/L, respectively. Furthermore, based on the analysis of the collected ferric colloid dissolved using deferoxamine, the MS2 concentration in the colloid-dissolved solution was 190-fold higher than that found in raw water according to RT-qPCR analysis. This is a novel method for concentrating RNA viruses to facilitate their detection in river water using coagulation and foam separation combined with chelate dissolution of ferric flocs.