Plant virus

Tobacco mosaic virus

Virology

Sewage

Food science

Tobamovirus

Microbiology

Virus

Biology

Wastewater

Effluent

Environmental science

Veterinary medicine

Pepper

Enteric virus

Medicine

Environmental engineering

Scientific Reports

This study was conducted to evaluate the applicability of crAssphage, pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV), and tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) as indicators of the reduction of human enteric viruses during wastewater treatment. Thirty-nine samples were collected from three steps at a wastewater treatment plant (raw sewage, secondary-treated sewage, and final effluent) monthly for a 13-month period. In addition to the three indicator viruses, eight human enteric viruses [human adenoviruses, JC and BK polyomaviruses, Aichi virus 1 (AiV-1), enteroviruses, and noroviruses of genogroups I, II, and IV] were tested by quantitative PCR. Indicator viruses were consistently detected in the tested samples, except for a few final effluents for crAssphage and TMV. The mean concentrations of crAssphage were significantly higher than those of most tested viruses. The concentrations of crAssphage in raw sewage were positively correlated with the concentrations of all tested human enteric viruses ( p &lt;0.05), suggesting the applicability of crAssphage as a suitable indicator to estimate the concentrations of human enteric viruses in raw sewage. The reduction ratios of AiV-1 (1.8 ± 0.7 log 10 ) were the lowest among the tested viruses, followed by TMV (2.0 ± 0.3 log 10 ) and PMMoV (2.0 ± 0.4 log 10 ). Our findings suggested that the use of not only AiV-1 and PMMoV but also TMV as indicators of reductions in viral levels can be applicable during wastewater treatment.

Applicability of crAssphage, pepper mild mottle virus, and tobacco mosaic virus as indicators of reduction of enteric viruses during wastewater treatment