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Filipić A, Dobnik D, Gutiérrez-Aguirre I, Ravnikar M, Košir T, Baebler Š, Štern A, Žegura B, Petkovšek M, Dular M, Mozetič M, Zaplotnik R, Primc G. Cold plasma within a stable supercavitation bubble - A breakthrough technology for efficient inactivation of viruses in water. Environ Int 2023; 182:108285. [PMID: 37972530 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Revised: 10/06/2023] [Accepted: 10/22/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023]
Abstract
Water scarcity, one of the most pressing challenges we face today, has developed for many reasons, including the increasing number of waterborne pollutants that affect the safety of the water environment. Waterborne human, animal and plant viruses represent huge health, environmental, and financial burden and thus it is important to efficiently inactivate them. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to construct a unique device combining plasma with supercavitation and to evaluate its efficiency for water decontamination with the emphasis on inactivation of viruses. High inactivation (>5 log10 PFU/mL) of bacteriophage MS2, a human enteric virus surrogate, was achieved after treatment of 0.43 L of recirculating water for up to 4 min. The key factors in the inactivation were short-lived reactive plasma species that damaged viral RNA. Water treated with plasma for a short time required for successful virus inactivation did not cause cytotoxic effects in the in vitro HepG2 cell model system or adverse effects on potato plant physiology. Therefore, the combined plasma-supercavitation device represents an environmentally-friendly technology that could provide contamination-free and safe water.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arijana Filipić
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - David Dobnik
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Ion Gutiérrez-Aguirre
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Maja Ravnikar
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Tamara Košir
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Špela Baebler
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Alja Štern
- Department of Genetic Toxicology and Cancer Biology, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Bojana Žegura
- Department of Genetic Toxicology and Cancer Biology, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Martin Petkovšek
- University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Matevž Dular
- University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Miran Mozetič
- Department of Surface Engineering, Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Rok Zaplotnik
- Department of Surface Engineering, Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Gregor Primc
- Department of Surface Engineering, Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
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Zupanc M, Zevnik J, Filipić A, Gutierrez-Aguirre I, Ješelnik M, Košir T, Ortar J, Dular M, Petkovšek M. Inactivation of the enveloped virus phi6 with hydrodynamic cavitation. Ultrason Sonochem 2023; 95:106400. [PMID: 37060711 PMCID: PMC10085970 DOI: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2023.106400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2023] [Revised: 03/23/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
The COVID -19 pandemic reminded us that we need better contingency plans to prevent the spread of infectious agents and the occurrence of epidemics or pandemics. Although the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 in water has not been confirmed, there are studies that have reported on the presence of infectious coronaviruses in water and wastewater samples. Since standard water treatments are not designed to eliminate viruses, it is of utmost importance to explore advanced treatment processes that can improve water treatment and help inactivate viruses when needed. This is the first study to investigate the effects of hydrodynamic cavitation on the inactivation of bacteriophage phi6, an enveloped virus used as a SARS-CoV-2 surrogate in many studies. In two series of experiments with increasing and constant sample temperature, virus reduction of up to 6.3 logs was achieved. Inactivation of phi6 at temperatures of 10 and 20 °C occurs predominantly by the mechanical effect of cavitation and results in a reduction of up to 4.5 logs. At 30 °C, the reduction increases to up to 6 logs, where the temperature-induced increased susceptibility of the viral lipid envelope makes the virus more prone to inactivation. Furthermore, the control experiments without cavitation showed that the increased temperature alone is not sufficient to cause inactivation, but that additional mechanical stress is still required. The RNA degradation results confirmed that virus inactivation was due to the disrupted lipid bilayer and not to RNA damage. Hydrodynamic cavitation, therefore, has the potential to inactivate current and potentially emerging enveloped pathogenic viruses in water at lower, environmentally relevant temperatures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mojca Zupanc
- Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Jure Zevnik
- Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Arijana Filipić
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Ion Gutierrez-Aguirre
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Meta Ješelnik
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Tamara Košir
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Jernej Ortar
- Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Matevž Dular
- Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Martin Petkovšek
- Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
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Filipić A, Lukežič T, Bačnik K, Ravnikar M, Ješelnik M, Košir T, Petkovšek M, Zupanc M, Dular M, Aguirre IG. Hydrodynamic cavitation efficiently inactivates potato virus Y in water. Ultrason Sonochem 2022; 82:105898. [PMID: 34973580 PMCID: PMC8799611 DOI: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2021.105898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Revised: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 12/26/2021] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Waterborne plant viruses can destroy entire crops, leading not only to high financial losses but also to food shortages. Potato virus Y (PVY) is the most important potato viral pathogen that can also affect other valuable crops. Recently, it has been confirmed that this virus is capable of infecting host plants via water, emphasizing the relevance of using proper strategies to treat recycled water in order to prevent the spread of the infectious agents. Emerging environmentally friendly methods such as hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) provide a great alternative for treating recycled water used for irrigation. In the experiments conducted in this study, laboratory HC based on Venturi constriction with a sample volume of 1 L was used to treat water samples spiked with purified PVY virions. The ability of the virus to infect plants was abolished after 500 HC passes, corresponding to 50 min of treatment under pressure difference of 7 bar. In some cases, shorter treatments of 125 or 250 passes were also sufficient for virus inactivation. The HC treatment disrupted the integrity of viral particles, which also led to a minor damage of viral RNA. Reactive species, including singlet oxygen, hydroxyl radicals, and hydrogen peroxide, were not primarily responsible for PVY inactivation during HC treatment, suggesting that mechanical effects are likely the driving force of virus inactivation. This pioneering study, the first to investigate eukaryotic virus inactivation by HC, will inspire additional research in this field enabling further improvement of HC as a water decontamination technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arijana Filipić
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Večna pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
| | - Tadeja Lukežič
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Večna pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Katarina Bačnik
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Večna pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Jamova cesta 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Maja Ravnikar
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Večna pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Meta Ješelnik
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Večna pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Tamara Košir
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Večna pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Martin Petkovšek
- University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Aškerčeva 6, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Mojca Zupanc
- University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Aškerčeva 6, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Matevž Dular
- University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Aškerčeva 6, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Ion Gutierrez Aguirre
- Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology, National Institute of Biology, Večna pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
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