Molecular epidemiological survey of rotaviruses in sewage by reverse transcriptase seminested PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism assay.
Rotavirus double-stranded RNA was detected directly in sewage treatment plant samples over a 1-year period by reverse transcription followed by PCR amplification of the VP7 gene and Southern blot hybridization. The presence of naturally occurring rotaviruses was demonstrated in 42% of raw sewage samples and in 67% of treated effluent samples. Amplified viral sequences were analyzed by restriction enzymes. Ten different restriction profiles were characterized, most of which were found in treated effluent samples. A mixture of restriction profiles was observed in 75% of contaminated effluent samples. The profiles were compared with those obtained from human rotavirus isolates involved in infections in children from the same area (six different profiles were detected). Five identical viral sequences were detected in both environmental and clinical samples. Restriction profiles were also compared to profiles from known genomic sequences of human and animal viruses. Both human and animal origins of rotavirus contamination of water seemed likely.
Dubois
E
E
Laboratorie de Microbiologie, Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer, Nantes, France.
Le Guyader
F
F
Haugarreau
L
L
Kopecka
H
H
Cormier
M
M
Pommepuy
M
M
D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002213:Capsid / Q000235:genetics; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D002417:Cattle; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D000882:Haplorhini; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D012722:Sewage / Q000821:virology*; D013552:Swine
D000956:Antigens, Viral; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D004279:DNA, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral; D012722:Sewage; C050779:VP7 protein, Rotavirus