title: Evidence for degradation of abnormal prion protein in tissues from sheep with scrapie during composting.
abstract: This study investigated whether the abnormal prion protein (PrP(Sc)) in tissues from sheep with scrapie would be destroyed by composting. Tissues from sheep naturally infected with scrapie were placed within fiberglass mesh bags and buried in compost piles for 108 d in experiment 1 or 148 d in experiment 2. The temperature in the compost piles rose quickly; it was above 60 degrees C for about 2 wk and then slowly declined to the ambient temperature. Before composting, PrPSc was detected in all the tissues by Western blotting. In experiment 1, PrPsc was not detected after composting in the tissue remnants or the surrounding sawdust. In experiment 2, 1 of 5 specimens tested negative after composting, whereas PrP(Sc) was detected in the other 4 bags, though in reduced amounts compared with those before composting. Tissue weights were reduced during composting. Analysis of the tissue remnants for microbial 16S ribosomal DNA demonstrated that there were more diverse microbes involved in experiment 1 than in experiment 2 and that the guanine and cytosine content of the microbial 16S DNA was higher in the specimens of experiment 1 than in those of experiment 2, which suggests greater dominance of thermophilic microbes in experiment 1. These results indicate that composting may have value as a means for degrading PrP(Sc) in carcasses and other wastes.
authors.affiliation: Ottawa Laboratory Fallowfield (Animal Diseases Research Institute), Canadian Food Inspection Agency, 3851 Fallowfield Road, Ottawa, Ontario K2H 8P9. huangho@inspection.gc.ca
authors.forename: Hongsheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: J Lloyd
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soutyrine
authors.forename: Jeiwen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.forename: Jasmine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rendulich
authors.forename: Aru
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Balachandran
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019149:Bioreactors; D015153:Blotting, Western / Q000662:veterinary; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D008372:Manure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000382:microbiology*; D010572:Pest Control, Biological / Q000379:methods; D018620:PrPSc Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012608:Scrapie / Q000473:pathology / Q000635:transmission*; D012756:Sheep; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D018505:Waste Management / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D008372:Manure; D018620:PrPSc Proteins