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. 2009 Jan;75(1):23-8.
doi: 10.1128/AEM.02199-08. Epub 2008 Oct 31.

UV disinfection of adenoviruses: molecular indications of DNA damage efficiency

Anne C Eischeid  1 , Joel N Meyer, Karl G Linden
Affiliations

UV disinfection of adenoviruses: molecular indications of DNA damage efficiency

Anne C Eischeid et al. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2009 Jan.

Abstract

Adenovirus is a focus of the water treatment community because of its resistance to standard, monochromatic low-pressure (LP) UV irradiation. Recent research has shown that polychromatic, medium-pressure (MP) UV sources are more effective than LP UV for disinfection of adenovirus when viral inactivation is measured using cell culture infectivity assays; however, UV-induced DNA damage may be repaired during cell culture infectivity assays, and this confounds interpretation of these results. Objectives of this work were to study adenoviral response to both LP and MP UV using (i) standard cell culture infectivity assays and (ii) a PCR assay to directly assess damage to the adenoviral genome without introducing the virus into cell culture. LP and MP UV dose response curves were determined for (i) log inactivation of the virus in cell culture and (ii) UV-induced lesions per kilobase of viral DNA as measured by the PCR assay. Results show that LP and MP UV are equally effective at damaging the genome; MP UV is more effective at inactivating adenovirus in cell culture. This work suggests that the higher disinfection efficacy of MP UV cannot be attributed to a difference in DNA damage induction. These results enhance our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of UV disinfection of viruses-especially double-stranded DNA viruses that infect humans--and improve the ability of the water treatment community to protect public health.

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Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
LP and MP mercury vapor UV lamp emission spectra.
FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.
UV inactivation of adenovirus as determined by cell culture infectivity assay data.
FIG. 3.
FIG. 3.
PCR assay for DNA damage showing relative amplification data. (a) Lesions per kilobase of viral DNA. (b) Agarose gel showing PCR products using LP UV (top) and MP UV (bottom). Bands were visualized on a 1% agarose gel run with sodium borate buffer and stained with ethidium bromide (8).
FIG. 4.
FIG. 4.
UV irradiation-induced DNA lesion data from this and previous studies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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