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Adsorption of Rotavirus, MS2 Bacteriophage and Surface-Modified Silica Nanoparticles to Hydrophobic Matter

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Abstract

Adsorption to aquifer media is an important process in the removal of viruses from groundwater. Even though hydrophobic interactions have been shown to contribute to adsorption, little is known about the hydrophobicity of viruses found in groundwater. In this study, the hydrophobicity of rotavirus, MS2 bacteriophage and DNA-labelled silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) coated with glycoprotein, protein A and alpha-1-microglobulin/bikunin precursor (AMBP) was investigated. The hydrophobicity was experimentally determined by using a modified microbial adhesion to hydrocarbons (MATH) assay. The results were compared with the theoretical hydrophobicity of the viral capsid proteins and the proteins used to coat the nanoparticles, and with the results of adsorption tests with unmodified and organosilane-coated (hydrophobic) silica sand. While most theoretical protein hydrophobicity values were similar, the results of the MATH assay suggested fundamental differences in the hydrophobicity of the viruses and the SiNPs. MS2 was found to be highly hydrophobic as based on the MATH hydrophobicity and a significantly enhanced adsorption to hydrophobic sand, whereas rotavirus was relatively hydrophilic. The MATH assay revealed that protein-coating of SiNP introduced some degree of hydrophobicity to hydrophilic SiNPs, enabling them to more closely mimic viral hydrophobicity. Our study also demonstrated that the protein-coated SiNPs better mimicked rotavirus adsorption to sand media (coated or not coated with hydrophobic organic matter) than the MS2. This further supports previous findings that these surface-modified SiNPs are useful surrogates in mimicking rotavirus retention and transport in porous media.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Royal Society of New Zealand (Marsden Grant ESR-1001). The authors thank the following people for their support and assistance: M. Male (University of Canterbury, New Zealand), W. Williamson, S. Lin, P. Scholes, B. Robson, E. McGill (Institute of Environmental Science & Research Ltd, New Zealand), P. Colvin (Polytechnic Institute of Technology, New Zealand) and G. Bennett (Bennett Scientific Services, New Zealand).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environmental Science & Research Ltd, PO Box 29181, Christchurch, 8540, New Zealand

    Kata Farkas & Liping Pang

  2. School of Biological Sciences and Biomolecular Interaction Centre, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand

    Kata Farkas & Arvind Varsani

  3. Electron Microscope Unit, Division of Medical Biochemistry, Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Cape Town, 7701, South Africa

    Arvind Varsani

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  1. Kata Farkas
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Correspondence to Kata Farkas.

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Farkas, K., Varsani, A. & Pang, L. Adsorption of Rotavirus, MS2 Bacteriophage and Surface-Modified Silica Nanoparticles to Hydrophobic Matter. Food Environ Virol 7, 261–268 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12560-014-9171-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12560-014-9171-3

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