METHODS OF VIRUS DETECTION IN SOILS AND SEDIMENTS

Abstract

Anthropogenic impacts on soils have become one of the major environmental concerns nowadays. Soils and sediments under water bodies may contain viruses and bacteria on higher loads than those identified in contaminated waters. These contaminants may interfere with the whole environment of the affected area, not only damaging the soil and the water but also affecting wildlife. Viruses can travel across the ground contaminating groundwater. The focus of research concerning viruses in soil matrices has been the destination, transport, and detection of pathogenic viruses exogenous to soils. Many methods have been suggested in the last few years for viral detection in soil and sediments. Viruses can be extracted from soil by elution, concentrated and finally detected by molecular techniques cell culture. There are many elution methods described in the literature and 11 techniques are cited in this review. Molecular detection can be performed by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and its modifications. New assays for viral quantification are emerging, such as adaptation of plaque assays (PAs), most-probable number assays (MPNs), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), epifluorescence microscopy (EfM), and flow cytometry (FC). DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/10.17525/vrr.v16i1-2.50