School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada E-mail:
Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
J Water Health. 2022 Jan;20(1):83-91. doi: 10.2166/wh.2021.167.
The reported persistence of SARS-CoV-2 virions in aquatic environments highlights the need to better understand potential mechanisms that may prolong its dissemination. We evaluated the possibility that amoebae might serve as transport hosts by studying the interaction of the enveloped bacteriophage Phi6, as a potential surrogated along with one of the most common amoebae in engineered aquatic environments, Vermamoeba vermiformis. Using microscopy, imaging flow cytometry and bacteriophage cell culture, our results imply that the SARS-CoV-2 surrogate triggers amoebic mitochondria and induced apoptosis to promote viral persistence in trophozoites. Furthermore, virus-infected amoebae were still infectious after 2 months within FLA cysts. These results suggest that amoebae could contribute to the environmental persistence of SARS-CoV-2, including disinfection processes. In addition, amoebae could be a successful model system for understanding respiratory virus-eukaryotic biology at the cellular and molecular levels.
研究表明，SARS-CoV-2 病毒粒子在水生环境中的持久性突出表明需要更好地了解可能延长其传播的潜在机制。我们通过研究包膜噬菌体 Phi6 的相互作用来评估变形虫是否可能作为运输宿主，噬菌体 Phi6 被用作一种潜在的替代物，与工程水生环境中最常见的变形虫之一 Vermamoeba vermiformis 一起研究。使用显微镜、成像流式细胞术和噬菌体细胞培养，我们的结果表明，SARS-CoV-2 替代物触发变形虫的线粒体并诱导细胞凋亡，以促进滋养体中的病毒持续存在。此外，在 FLA 胞囊内，感染病毒的变形虫在 2 个月后仍然具有传染性。这些结果表明，变形虫可能有助于 SARS-CoV-2 的环境持久性，包括消毒过程。此外，变形虫可以成为理解细胞和分子水平呼吸道病毒真核生物学的成功模型系统。
