Predictive models for determining the fate of nonculturable and difficult-to-culture viruses in disinfection processes

病毒如诺如病毒、轮状病毒和肠道病毒是水传播疾病的主要原因。传统的水处理工艺，如混凝、沉淀和过滤，在去除病毒方面不是很有效。因此，水处理厂中病毒的去除和灭活在很大程度上依赖于消毒过程。然而，大多数水质实验室无法检测病毒消毒的有效性。这是因为许多传染性病毒要么不能在人体外生长，要么需要具有很高生物安全水平的设施，而大多数研究人员无法获得这些设施。该研究项目的目标是开发对包括COVID-19病毒在内的新病原体在内的所有病毒消毒有效性的新基础知识。为了实现这一目标，研究者建议使用紫外线、游离氯和二氧化氯作为模型消毒剂，对一组结构多样的水传播病毒进行灭活实验。从这些实验中收集的数据将用于开发新的模型和预测工具。这一项目的成功完成将通过开发新的知识和工具来识别非传染性和易于生长的替代品，以测试和验证水处理厂的病毒消毒效率，从而造福社会。通过将项目成果纳入关于病毒在生态学、生物技术和传染病中所起作用的新的跨学科课程，对学生进行教育和培训，将进一步造福社会。水传播病毒是世界范围内疾病的主要原因。消毒已成为水处理中用于灭活水传播病毒并阻止其传播的关键单元操作。然而，大多数学术、市政和工业水质实验室没有足够的设施和工具来测量病毒消毒的有效性。虽然通常采用非传染性和易于生长的病毒作为替代物来评估消毒效率，但没有统一的框架来选择这些替代物。此外，关于病毒消毒的程度和速度的公开数据有限。这项研究的目的是解决这些知识差距在病毒消毒。为了实现这一目标，PI将围绕三个具体任务开展综合实验和建模计划。在任务1中，将进行新的病毒灭活实验，以扩大可用的数据集，使用培养方法培养目标病毒和紫外线辐射，游离氯和二氧化氯作为模型消毒剂。在任务2中，任务1中收集的数据将用于开发和验证结构-活性关系（SARs），以预测病毒灭活的程度和速度。在任务III中，项目负责人将利用从任务I和II中获得的新数据、见解和SARs，确定更有效的替代品，以测试和验证紫外线辐射和氯基消毒剂灭活病毒的功效。通过开发新的见解和工具来预测水处理系统中病毒消毒的效率，该项目的成功完成有可能产生变革性影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Viruses such as norovirus, rotavirus, and enteroviruses are major causes of waterborne illness. Conventional water treatment processes like coagulation, sedimentation, and filtration are not very effective at removing viruses. As a result, the removal and inactivation of viruses in water treatment plants rely heavily on disinfection processes. However, the effectiveness of virus disinfection cannot be tested in most water quality laboratories. This is due to the fact that many infectious viruses either cannot be grown outside of the human body or require facilities with very high levels of biosafety that are not available to most researchers. The goal of this research project is to develop new fundamental knowledge on the effectiveness of disinfection on all viruses including new pathogens such as the COVID-19 virus. To achieve this goal, the investigator proposes to carry out inactivation experiments on a group of structurally diverse waterborne-viruses using UV light, free chlorine, and chlorine dioxide as model disinfectants. The data collected from these experiments will be used to develop new models and predictive tools. Successful completion of this project will benefit society through the development of new knowledge and tools for identifying non-infectious and easy-to-grow surrogates for testing and validating virus disinfection efficiency at water treatment plants. Further benefits to society will be achieved through student education and training via the integration of the project findings into a new cross-disciplinary course on the roles that viruses play in ecology, biotechnology, and infectious diseases. Waterborne viruses are a major cause of illness worldwide. Disinfection has emerged as a critical unit operation used in water treatment to inactivate waterborne viruses and stop their transmission. However, most academic, municipal, and industrial water quality laboratories do not have adequate facilities and tools to measure the effectiveness of virus disinfection. Although non-infectious and easy-to-grow viruses are commonly employed as surrogates to evaluate disinfection efficiency, no consistent framework is available for selecting such surrogates. In addition, there is limited published data on the extent and rates of virus disinfection. The goal of this research is to address these knowledge gaps in virus disinfection. To advance this goal, the PI will carry out an integrated experimental and modeling program organized around three specific tasks. In Task 1, new virus inactivation experiments will be conducted to expand the available dataset using culture methods to grow the target viruses and UV radiation, free chlorine, and chlorine dioxide as model disinfectants. In Task 2, the data collected in Task 1 will be utilized to develop and validate structure-activity relationships (SARs) for predicting the extent and rate of virus inactivation. In Task III, the PI will leverage the new data, insight, and SARs obtained from Tasks I and II to identify more effective surrogates for testing and validating the efficacy of virus inactivation by UV radiation and chlorine-based disinfectants. Successful completion of this project has potential for transformative impact through the development of new insight and tools to predict the efficiency of virus disinfection in water treatment systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.