The Interaction of Ruminant PrPSc with Soils Is Influenced by Prion Source and Soil Type

The persistence of prions within the environment is implicated in the horizontal transmission of ovine scrapie and cervid chronic wasting disease. Description of the interaction of prion strains derived from their natural hosts with a range of soil types is imperative in understanding how prions per...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science & technology 2010-11, Vol.44 (22), p.8503-8508
Main Authors: Maddison, Ben C, Owen, Jonathan P, Bishop, Keith, Shaw, George, Rees, Helen C, Gough, Kevin C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Environmental Processes
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Microbiology
Non conventional transmissible agents
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Summary:The persistence of prions within the environment is implicated in the horizontal transmission of ovine scrapie and cervid chronic wasting disease. Description of the interaction of prion strains derived from their natural hosts with a range of soil types is imperative in understanding how prions persist in the environment and, therefore, the characteristics of prion transmission. Here, we demonstrate that all detectable ovine scrapie and bovine BSE PrPSc bind to a range of soil types within 24 h. This highly efficient binding of prions to soils is characterized by truncation of desorbed PrPSc in a soil-dependent manner, with clay-rich soils resulting in N-terminal truncation of the PrPSc and sand-rich soils yielding full length PrPSc species. PrPSc did not migrate through soil columns during incubation for up to 18 months, and for all combinations of soil and prion types, a decrease in recoverable PrPSc was seen over time. Persistence of PrPSc within soil and their interaction with soil particles of distinct sizes was dictated by both the soil type and the source of the prion, with ovine scrapie being apparently more persistent in some soils than cattle BSE. These data indicate that natural ruminant prion strains are stable in the soil environment for at least 18 months and that PrPSc−soil interaction is dictated by both the soil properties and the strain/host species of PrPSc.
ISSN:0013-936X
1520-5851
DOI:10.1021/es101591a