Presence of hepatitis E RNA in mussels used as bio-monitors of viral marine pollution.

Mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis), collected from a harvesting area approved by European Community Regulation, were transplanted to four polluted sites located in the Northwestern Mediterranean area (Tuscany). They were used as bio-monitors to test the quality of the marine water pollution. At different times after the transplantation, mussels were withdrawn and tested for presence of phages and enteric viruses by molecular tests.

Analytical solution for the modeling of the natural time-dependent reduction of waterborne viruses injected into fractured aquifers.

We propose an analytical solution in order to explain the processes that determine the fate and behavior of the viruses during transport in a fractured aquifer at Salento (Italy). The calculations yield the efficiency of filtration in fractures at a site near Nardò (Southern Italy) in reducing the numbers of enteric viruses (i.e.

A strategy to increase the specificity of Syber Green I qRT-PCR in hepatitis A detection.

Various methods for the recovery and detection of HAV have been suggested, and molecular tests have recently provided an effective replacement for the traditional methods. Real-time RT-PCR technology offers many advantages over conventional RT-PCR in terms of rapidity and specificity. Most procedures are based on the TaqMan chemistry, but some researchers have used the SYBR Green I approach, which is less expensive and simpler to carry out.

Are PEI-coated SWCNTs conjugated with hepatitis A virus? A chemical study with SEM, Z-potential, EDXD and RT-PCR.

The conjugation between nanotubes, coated with different doses of polyethylene imine (PEI) and hepatitis A virus (HAV) was investigated by scanning electron microscopy, Z-potential, thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray diffraction (EDXD) and reverse transcript polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). For the first time, to our knowledge, evidence is obtained that conjugation between the nanotubes and the HAV occurs and that it has an (at least a partial) electrostatic character. Since all components of the conjugated systems, nanotubes, coating material and virus are characterized by different peak shapes in the selected q range, it was possible to infer that conjugation occurred.

Interaction between single wall carbon nanotubes and a human enteric virus.

Activated single wall carbon nanotubes have been used for biomedical purposes as carriers for drugs, peptides, proteins and nucleic acids. A large volume of data speaks to their suitability to act as a carrier. The ability of two differently activated SWNTs (with carboxyl groups or with carboxyl groups and polyethylenimine (PEI)) to form a complex with the hepatitis A virus was evaluated.