Virus Inactivation Utilising Naturally Occurring Enzymes in Wastewater
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Virus inactivation utilising naturally occurring enzymes in wastewater Amanda Rachel Inglis School of Physical and Chemical Sciences University of Canterbury This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2018 For Mum and Dad ii I would like to acknowledge my supervisors, Dr. Louise Weaver, Matthew Ashworth and Professor Emily Parker. Without all of your encouragement, input and advice I would not have made it to this point! I would also like to thank the whole groundwater team at ESR, especially Judith, Bronwyn, Phil, and Lee for their day to day support and distractions. Thanks also go to Dr. Sarah Masters in the Chemistry Department at UC for all of the sage advice and support she supplied me with. This project would not have been possible if it was not for the funding supplied by ESR and Scholarships awarded by ESR, the Chemistry Department at UC and the Biomolecular Interaction Centre at UC. Abstract Adequate sewage treatment is vital for maintaining New Zealand’s economy as well as offering economic and sustainable methods of treating wastewater globally. Effective treatment is required to protect both public health and the environment from anthropogenic activities. Pathogen removal mechanisms are largely unknown and are likely to be complex due to the diverse environment. The purpose of this study was the investigation of natural virus inactivation in waste stabilisation ponds. By investigating these complex mechanisms, particularly the enzymatic virus removal, we can develop models of pathogen removal and increase the knowledge of these processes to enable the efficient, low-cost, running of waste stabilisation ponds. A laboratory-scale waste stabilisation pond system was developed in order to investigate pathogen behaviour in the wastewater matrix. The laboratory-scale WSP system was combined with enzyme assays, viral enumeration, and genomic sequencing to investigate the bacterial communities present in wastewater and their potential production of enzymes involved in virus inactivation. It was determined that the bacterial communities in laboratory-scale and full-scale WSPs were compositionally similar, with a shared core microbiome. The bacterial abundance and functions associated with the bacteria varied in response to pond properties, while enzyme activity leads to reduced viral concentrations. Sequencing, physiochemical properties, and microbial pathogen reduction indicated a successful laboratory-scale WSP was developed. Human enteric virus concentration was reduced in the presence of extracellular enzymes present in wastewater, indicating a possible alternative for virus removal than expensive chlorination or UV. Contents Contents iv List of Figures xi List of Tables xiv 1 Introduction 17 1.1 Research Gaps . 19 1.2 Research objectives . 20 2 Literature review 21 2.1 Wastewater . 22 2.2 Managing the spread of disease . 23 2.3 Waste stabilisation ponds . 25 2.3.1 Treatment aims . 26 2.3.1.1 Pre-treatment . 28 2.3.1.2 Primary treatment . 28 2.3.1.3 Secondary treatment . 31 Contents v 2.3.1.4 Tertiary treatment . 32 2.3.2 Disinfection potential . 34 2.3.3 Effluent fate . 37 2.3.4 WSP biological community . 39 2.3.4.1 Bacteria in WSPs . 39 2.3.4.2 Algae in WSPs . 43 2.3.4.3 Protozoa and Metazoa in WSPs . 44 2.3.5 Pathogenic community . 47 2.3.5.1 Protozoan pathogens in WSPs . 47 2.3.5.2 Microbial pathogens in WSPs . 49 2.3.5.3 Viruses in WSPs . 51 2.3.6 Pathogen detection . 55 2.3.6.1 Indicator organisms . 56 2.3.6.2 Use of MS2 for enteric virus monitoring . 59 2.4 Monitoring wastewater treatment . 61 2.4.1 Parameters for defining successful treatment . 66 2.4.2 Design manuals . 68 2.5 Model wastewater systems . 69 3 Methods 76 3.1 Full-scale sample site and sampling methods . 76 3.2 Physicochemical parameters . 78 Contents vi 3.3 Total solids . 78 3.4 Bacterial plating . 79 3.5 Bacteriophage plaque assay . 82 3.6 Enzyme assays . 83 3.6.1 Enzyme inhibition . 87 3.6.2 Heat inactivation . 88 3.7 Protein determination . 88 3.7.1 Lowry protein assay . 88 3.8 Enterovirus end-point titration assay . 89 3.8.1 Preparation of stock echovirus . 91 3.9 Viral spike . 91 3.10 Sample preparation . 91 3.10.1 Filtration . 92 3.10.2 Protein concentration . 93 3.10.3 Chloroform extraction . 93 3.10.4 Solid phase extraction . 93 3.11 Mass spectrometry . 94 3.12 Bacterial and enzyme culture . 95 3.13 Pond design . 97 3.14 Sequencing . 97 3.14.1 Data analysis and storage . 98 3.15 Statistics . 101 Contents vii 4 Laboratory-scale waste stabilisation pond development 102 4.1 Introduction . 102 4.2 Methods . 104 4.2.1 Pond construction . 104 4.2.1.1 Pond set-up . 106 4.2.2 Monitoring and sample collection . 107 4.2.3 Bacterial plating . 108 4.2.4 Viral spike and enumeration . 108 4.2.5 Statistical analysis . 108 4.3 Results and Discussion . 109 4.3.1 Physicochemical fluctuations . 109 4.3.2 Microbial behaviour and survival . 114 4.3.3 Virus behaviour and survival . 117 4.4 Summary . 120 5 Enzyme activity in waste stabilisation pond wastewater and virus survival 122 5.1 Introduction . 122 5.2 Methods . 123 5.2.1 Sample collection . 124 5.2.2 Enzyme assays . 124 5.2.3 Viral spike and detection . 124 5.2.4 Enzyme inhibition . 125 Contents viii 5.2.5 Filtration . 125 5.2.6 Statistics . 125 5.3 Results and Discussion . 126 5.3.1 Enzyme activity in laboratory-scale WSP . 126 5.3.2 Enzyme activity in full-scale WSP fractions . 127 5.3.3 Enzymatic inactivation of viruses . 133 5.3.4 Enzyme activity in presence of virus . 138 5.4 Summary . 140 6 Enzyme production capabilities of bacterial communities in WSPs 142 6.1 Introduction . 142 6.2 Methods . 145 6.2.1 Sample sites . 145 6.2.2 Sequencing . 146 6.2.3 Mass spectrometry . 147 6.2.4 Statistics . 147 6.3 Results and Discussion . 148 6.3.1 Targeted sequencing . 148 6.3.2 Shotgun sequencing . 153 6.3.3 Pathogenic bacteria in WSPs . 155 6.3.4 Metadata correlation . 157 6.3.5 Functional categorisation . 159 Contents ix 6.3.5.1 Targeted sequence analysis . 159 6.3.5.2 Shotgun sequence analysis . 161 6.3.6 Potential enzymes produced . 163 6.4 Summary . 167 7 Conclusions and future work considerations 168 7.1 Development of a laboratory-scale WSP system for the investigation of virus survival and inactivation . 168 7.2 Enzyme activity and virus survival . 169 7.3 Microbial diversity and enzyme production in WSPs . 169 7.4 Future work . 170 References 173 A Pond design equations 232 A.1 Laboratory-scale design . 232 A.2 Design process . 236 A.3 Design results . ..