- Searching for a Reliable Viral Indicator of Faecal Pollution in Aquatic Environments
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Felana Harilanto Andrianjakarivony , Yvan Bettarel , Christelle Desnues
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J. Microbiol. 2023;61(6):589-602. Published online June 1, 2023
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-023-00052-6
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The disposal of sewage in significant quantities poses a health hazard to aquatic ecosystems. These effluents can contain
a wide range of pathogens, making faecal contamination a leading source of waterborne diseases around the world. Yet
monitoring bacteria or viruses in aquatic environments is time consuming and expensive. The standard indicators of faecal
pollution all have limitations, including difficulty in determining the source due to lack of host specificity, poor connection
with the presence of non-bacterial pathogens, or low environmental persistence. Innovative monitoring techniques are sorely
needed to provide more accurate and targeted solutions. Viruses are a promising alternative to faecal indicator bacteria for
monitoring, as they are more persistent in ambient water, more abundant in faeces, and are extremely host-specific. Given
the range of viruses found in diverse contexts, it is not easy to find one “ideal” viral indicator of faecal pollution; however,
several are of interest. In parallel, the ongoing development of molecular techniques coupled with metagenomics and bioinformatics
should enable improved ways to detect faecal contamination using viruses. This review examines the evolution
of faecal contamination monitoring with the following aims (i) to identify the characteristics of the main viral indicators of
faecal contamination, including human enteric viruses, bacteriophages, CRESS and plant viruses, (ii) to assess how these
have been used to monitor water pollution in recent years, (iii) to evaluate the reliability of recent detection methods of such
viruses, and (iv) to tentatively determine which viruses may be most effective as markers of faecal pollution.
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Citations
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