The introduction of SARS-CoV-2 containing human stool and sewage into water bodies may raise public health concerns. However, assessment of public health risks by faecally contaminated water is limited by a lack of knowledge regarding the persistence of infectious SARS-CoV-2 in water. In the present study the decay rates of viable infectious SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-2 RNA were determined in river and seawater at 4 and 20°C. These decay rates were compared to
S. typhimurium
bacteriophage MS2 and pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV). Persistence of viable SARS-CoV-2 was temperature dependent, remaining infectious for significantly longer periods of time in both freshwater and seawater at 4°C than at 20°C. T
90
for infectious SARS-CoV-2 in river water was 2.3 days and 3.8 days at 20°C and 4°C, respectively. The T
90
values were 1.1 days and 2.2 days in seawater at 20°C and 4°C, respectively. In contrast to the rapid inactivation of infectious SARS-CoV-2 in river and sea water, viral RNA was relatively stable. The RNA decay rates were increased in non-sterilised river and seawater, presumably due to the presence of microbiota. The decay rates of infectious MS2, MS2 RNA and PMMoV RNA differed significantly from the decay rate of SARS-CoV-2 RNA, suggesting that their use as surrogate markers for the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in the environment is limited.
Antimicrobial resistance is common in the microbial inhabitants of the human oral cavity. Antimicrobials are commonly encountered by oral microbes as they are present in our diet, both naturally and anthropogenically, and also used in oral healthcare products and amalgam fillings. We aimed to determine the presence of genes in the oral microbiome conferring reduced susceptibility to common antimicrobials. From an Escherichia coli library, 12,277 clones were screened and ten clones with reduced susceptibility to triclosan were identified. The genes responsible for this phenotype were identified as fabI, originating from a variety of different bacteria. The gene fabI encodes an enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (ENR), which is essential for fatty acid synthesis in bacteria. Triclosan binds to ENR, preventing fatty acid synthesis. By introducing the inserts containing fabI, ENR is likely overexpressed in E. coli, reducing the inhibitory effect of triclosan. Another clone was found to have reduced susceptibility to cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and cetylpyridinium chloride. This phenotype was conferred by a UDP-glucose 4-epimerase gene, galE, homologous to one from Veillonella parvula. The product of galE is involved in lipopolysaccharide production. Analysis of the E. coli host cell surface showed that the charge was more positive in the presence of galE, which likely reduces the binding of these positively charged antiseptics to the bacteria. This is the first time galE has been shown to confer resistance against quaternary ammonium compounds and represents a novel, epimerase-based, global cell adaptation, which confers resistance to cationic antimicrobials.
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