Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33940413›Full record

ArticleThe Science of the total environment2021

An optimized and robust PEG precipitation method for detection of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater.

Sylvia A Sapula, Jonathan J Whittall, Aaron J Pandopulos, Cobus Gerber, Henrietta Venter

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The Science of the total environment, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
40citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
4.2field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

40 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 81 citations in OpenAlex.

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  16. Evaluating storage conditions and enhancement strategies on viral biomarker recovery for WBE applications.Water science and technology : a journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research · 2024
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Sylvia A SapulaUniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, Health and Biomedical Innovation, University of South Australia, Adelaide 5000, Australia.
Jonathan J WhittallUniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, Health and Biomedical Innovation, University of South Australia, Adelaide 5000, Australia.
Aaron J PandopulosUniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, Health and Biomedical Innovation, University of South Australia, Adelaide 5000, Australia.
Cobus GerberUniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, Health and Biomedical Innovation, University of South Australia, Adelaide 5000, Australia.
Henrietta VenterUniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, Health and Biomedical Innovation, University of South Australia, Adelaide 5000, Australia. Electronic address: rietie.venter@unisa.edu.au.
University of South Australia · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Wastewater-based epidemiology is currently being utilized to monitor the dissemination of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), on a population scale. The detection of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater is highly influenced by methodologies used for its isolation, concentration and RNA extraction. Although various viral concentration methods are currently employed, including polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation, adsorption-extraction, ultracentrifugation and ultrafiltration, to our knowledge, none of these methods have been standardized for use with a variety of wastewater matrices and/or different kits for RNA extraction and quantification. To address this, wastewater with different physical characteristics was seeded with gamma-irradiated SARS-CoV-2 and used to test the efficiency of PEG precipitation and adsorption-extraction to concentrate the virus from three physiochemically different wastewater samples, sourced from three distinct wastewater plants. Efficiency of viral concentration and RNA extraction was assessed by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and the recovery yields calculated. As co-purification of inhibitors can be problematic for subsequent detection, two commonly used commercial master mixes were assessed for their sensitivity and efficiency to detect two SARS-CoV-2 target nucleocapsid (N) gene sequences. Recovery rates varied greatly between wastewater matrices and concentration methods, with the highest and most reproducible recovery rates (46.6-56.7%) observed when SARS-CoV-2 was precipitated with PEG and detected by the Luna® Universal master mix. The adsorption-extraction method was less effective (0-21.7%). This study demonstrates that PEG precipitation is the more robust method, which translates well to varying wastewater matrices, producing consistent and reproducible recovery rates. Furthermore, it is compatible with different kits for RNA extraction and quantitation.

Indexed as

COVID-19VirusesHumansSARS-CoV-2WastewaterWastewaterCOVID-19PCR detectionViral extraction methodVirus recovery ratesWastewater-based epidemiologyWastewater matrix

Identifiers

PMID33940413
PMCPMC8086323
OpenAlexW3158236110

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.