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Physicochemical stability profile of Tulane virus: a human norovirus surrogate
Author(s) -
Arthur S.E.,
Gibson K.E.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 1364-5072
DOI - 10.1111/jam.12878
Subject(s) - norovirus , murine norovirus , feline calicivirus , ethanol , virus , calicivirus , food science , chemistry , virus inactivation , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , virology , biochemistry
Aims Human norovirus (HuNoV) is estimated to cause 19–21 million illnesses each year in the US. A major limitation in HuNoV research is the lack of an in vitro culture system; therefore, surrogate viruses including murine norovirus (MNV) and feline calicivirus (FCV) are used to study HuNoV. Here, we aim to establish the physiochemical properties of Tulane virus (TV)—a newer HuNoV surrogate. Methods and Results For thermal inactivation, TV was exposed to 37°C for 2 h, and 56, 63 and 72°C for 30 min. For ethanol tolerance, TV was treated with 60, 70 and 90% ethanol at room temperature (RT) for 5 min. Tulane virus pH stability at pH 2, 3, 7, 9 and 10 was performed at RT for 90 min. At 37°C, there was no significant reduction in TV after 2 h. However, at 56, 63 and 72°C, D ‐values of 4·03, 1·18, and 0·24 min, were calculated respectively. The D ‐values obtained for TV ethanol tolerance were 1·46, 1·93, and 0·35 min at 60, 70 and 90% respectively. Less than 1 log 10 plaque forming units (PFU) reduction was observed for TV at all pH levels except pH 10 where about a 2‐log 10 PFU reduction was observed. Tulane virus was also tolerant to chlorine disinfection on a solid surface with D ‐values of 15·82 and 5·42 min at 200 and 1000 ppm respectively. Conclusions Tulane virus is likely a suitable surrogate to study HuNoV thermal stability as well as ethanol tolerance below 90%. Tulane virus also is a promising surrogate to study HuNoV pH stability and chlorine tolerance. Significance and Impact of the Study Based on current work, in vitro studies demonstrate that TV is an overall more conservative and suitable surrogate for the study of HuNoV physicochemical properties.