TY - JOUR

T1 - Evaluation of Molecular Methods for the Detection and Quantification of Pathogen-Derived Nucleic Acids in Sediment

AU - Farkas, Kata

AU - Hassard, Francis

AU - McDonald, James

AU - Malham, Shelagh

AU - Jones, David

N1 - Funded by NERC NE/M010996/1

PY - 2017/1/24

Y1 - 2017/1/24

N2 - The accurate detection of pathogens in environmental matrices, such as sediment, is critical in understanding pathogen fate and behavior in the environment. In this study, we assessed the usefulness of methods for the detection and quantification of Vibrio spp. and norovirus (NoV) nucleic acids in sediment. For bacteria, a commonly used direct method using hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and phenol-chloroform-isoamyl alcohol (PCI) extraction was optimized, whereas for NoV, direct and indirect (virus elution—concentration) methods were evaluated. For quantification, commercially available quantitative PCR (qPCR) and reverse transcription qPCR (RT-qPCR) kits were tested alongside a digital PCR (dPCR) approach. CTAB-based extraction combined with 16 h polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG6000) precipitation was found to be suitable for the direct extraction of high abundance bacterial and viral nucleic acids. For the indirect extraction of viral RNA, beef extract-based elution followed by PEG6000 precipitation and extraction using the NucliSENS® MiniMag® Nucleic Acid Purification System and the PowerViral® Environmental RNA/DNA Isolation Kit and qRT-PCR resulted in 83–112 and 63–69% recoveries of NoV, respectively. dPCR resulted in lower viral recoveries (47 and 9%) and ~4 orders of magnitude lower Vibrio concentrations (3.6–4.6 log10 gc/100 g sediment) than was observed using qPCR. The use of internal controls during viral quantification revealed that the RT step was more affected by inhibitors than the amplification. The methods described here are suitable for the enumeration of viral and/or bacterial pathogens in sediment, however the use of internal controls to assess efficiency is recommended.

AB - The accurate detection of pathogens in environmental matrices, such as sediment, is critical in understanding pathogen fate and behavior in the environment. In this study, we assessed the usefulness of methods for the detection and quantification of Vibrio spp. and norovirus (NoV) nucleic acids in sediment. For bacteria, a commonly used direct method using hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and phenol-chloroform-isoamyl alcohol (PCI) extraction was optimized, whereas for NoV, direct and indirect (virus elution—concentration) methods were evaluated. For quantification, commercially available quantitative PCR (qPCR) and reverse transcription qPCR (RT-qPCR) kits were tested alongside a digital PCR (dPCR) approach. CTAB-based extraction combined with 16 h polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG6000) precipitation was found to be suitable for the direct extraction of high abundance bacterial and viral nucleic acids. For the indirect extraction of viral RNA, beef extract-based elution followed by PEG6000 precipitation and extraction using the NucliSENS® MiniMag® Nucleic Acid Purification System and the PowerViral® Environmental RNA/DNA Isolation Kit and qRT-PCR resulted in 83–112 and 63–69% recoveries of NoV, respectively. dPCR resulted in lower viral recoveries (47 and 9%) and ~4 orders of magnitude lower Vibrio concentrations (3.6–4.6 log10 gc/100 g sediment) than was observed using qPCR. The use of internal controls during viral quantification revealed that the RT step was more affected by inhibitors than the amplification. The methods described here are suitable for the enumeration of viral and/or bacterial pathogens in sediment, however the use of internal controls to assess efficiency is recommended.

KW - dPCR

KW - sediment

KW - qRT-PCR

KW - pathogen detection

KW - nucleic acid extraction

KW - Vibrio

KW - norovirus

U2 - 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00053

DO - 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00053

M3 - Article

VL - 6

SP - 1

EP - 12

JO - Frontiers in Microbiology

JF - Frontiers in Microbiology

SN - 1664-302X

M1 - 53

ER -