Polyhexamethylene biguanide exposure leads to viral aggregation.

AIMS: This study reports the activity of two biguanides against MS2 bacteriophage used as a surrogate virus for nonenveloped mammalian viruses and provides an explanation as to their apparent limited efficacy. METHODS AND RESULTS: When tested in a standard suspension test, two polyhexamethylene biguanides (PHMB), VANTOCIL TG and COSMOCIL CQ, reduced the viability of MS2 by only 1-2 log(10) PFU ml(-1). Exposure time up to 30 min did not affect the activity of the biguanides, although both PHMB were shown to strongly interact with MS2 proteins. CONCLUSIONS: Inactivation kinetics and change in virus hydrophobicity suggested that PHMB induces the formation of viral aggregates. This hypothesis was supported using dynamic light scattering that showed an increase in viral aggregates sizes (up to 500 nm) in a concentration-dependent manner. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: It has been reported that viral aggregation is responsible for virus survival to the biocide exposure. Here, this might be the case, because the virucidal activity of the biguanides was modest and viral aggregation important. The formation of viral aggregates during virus exposure to PHMB was unlikely to overestimate the virucidal potential of the biguanides.

Effect of biostimulation and bioaugmentation on degradation of polyurethane buried in soil.

This work investigated biostimulation and bioaugmentation as strategies for removing polyurethane (PU) waste in soil. Soil microcosms were biostimulated with the PU dispersion agent "Impranil" and/or yeast extract or were bioaugmented with PU-degrading fungi, and the degradation of subsequently buried PU was determined. Fungal communities in the soil and colonizing buried PU were enumerated on solid media and were analyzed using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Biostimulation with yeast extract alone or in conjunction with Impranil increased PU degradation 62% compared to the degradation in untreated control soil and was associated with a 45% increase in putative PU degraders colonizing PU. Specific fungi were enriched in soil following biostimulation; however, few of these fungi colonized the surface of buried PU. Fungi used for soil bioaugmentation were cultivated on the surface of sterile wheat to form a mycelium-rich inoculum. Wheat, when added alone to soil, increased PU degradation by 28%, suggesting that wheat biomass had a biostimulating effect. Addition of wheat colonized with Nectria haematococca, Penicillium viridicatum, Penicillium ochrochloron, or an unidentified Mucormycotina sp. increased PU degradation a further 30 to 70%, suggesting that biostimulation and bioaugmentation were operating in concert to enhance PU degradation. Interestingly, few of the inoculated fungi could be detected by DGGE in the soil or on the surface of the PU 4 weeks after inoculation. Bioaugmentation did, however, increase the numbers of indigenous PU-degrading fungi and caused an inoculum-dependent change in the composition of the native fungal populations, which may explain the increased degradation observed. These results demonstrate that both biostimulation and bioaugmentation may be viable tools for the remediation of environments contaminated with polyurethane waste.