The infective sewage virome (METAVIR)
The presence of viral pathogens in sewage is a matter of concern for wastewater treatment and water reuse. Viral detection in sewage is most frequently done by molecular methodologies (PCR). However, these methods are limited by the fact that they can only detect those pathogens that are specifically targeted. The application of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) techniques to study sewage has allowed the description of sewage metavirome, highlighting the diversity of human viruses present. However, NGS also has limitations, in particular its low sensitivity and its inability to differentiate between infective and inactivated viruses. In this project, we are combining NGS with cell culturing to provide a tool to monitor the infective sewage virome, and we apply this tool to investigate the seasonal virus dynamics in the Lausanne sewage.
Collaborators: Anna Carlotta Schultz (DTU)
Funding: Eurotech fellowship