Aerobic Conditions and Endogenous Reactive Oxygen Species Reduce the Production of Infectious MS2 Phage by Escherichia coli

Abstract

Most of the defective/non-infectious enteric phages and viruses that end up in wastewater originate in human feces. Some of the causes of this high level of inactivity at the host stage are unknown. There is a significant gap between how enteric phages are environmentally transmitted and how we might design molecular tools that would only detect infectious ones. Thus, there is a need to explain the low proportion of infectious viral particles once replicated. By analyzing lysis plaque content, we were able to confirm that, under aerobic conditions, Escherichia coli produce low numbers of infectious MS2 phages (I) than the total number of phages indicated by the genome copies (G) with an I/G ratio of around 2%. Anaerobic conditions of replication and ROS inhibition increase the I/G ratio to 8 and 25%, respectively. These data cannot only be explained by variations in the total numbers of MS2 phages produced or in the metabolism of E. coli. We therefore suggest that oxidative damage impacts the molecular replication and assembly of MS2 phages.

Comparison of virus aerosol concentrations across a face shield worn on a healthcare personnel during a simulated patient cough

“…MS2 bacteriophage has been used as a safe surrogate for the aerosol transmission of virus. [6][7][8][9] MS2 is a singlestranded RNA bacteriophage that is nonenveloped. 2 Prior studies with coughing machines have not analyzed the effectiveness of PPE with viable virus.…”