Lortholarie M., Do Nascimento J., Boudaud N., Gantzer C., Palos-Ladeiro M., Martínez-Carreras N., Ogorzaly L., Geffard A.
Science of the Total Environment, vol. 1003, art. no. 180598, 2025
The use of infectious F-specific RNA bacteriophages (FRNAPH) to monitor fecal viral pollution in the aquatic environment is an interesting concept in public health. Dreissena polymorpha is particularly relevant due to its ability to accumulate this viral indicator and transcribe spatiotemporal variations in the environment. However, discrepancies in the accumulation of bacteriophages by D. polymorpha have been observed between laboratory and in situ exposure experiments, with bioaccumulation factors (BAF) being 1000 times higher under in situ exposure. This suggests that environmental parameters are involved and may influence this bioaccumulation. Suspended particulate matter (SPM) can affect both infectious FRNAPH and D. polymorpha. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the role of SPM in the bioaccumulation of infectious FRNAPH-II (GA phage) in D. polymorpha. Laboratory experiments were conducted to assess the effect of SPM on mussel filtration behavior and GA phage bioaccumulation with a factor of 3 or 4. The results demonstrated that mussels exposed to complex media containing SPM accumulated significantly higher levels of infectious GA phage compared to particle-free water conditions. This suggests that the adsorption of GA phage onto fine particles increases their bioavailability to mussels. Although factors such as SPM size distribution and particle sorting by mussels were identified as contributing factors, they do not fully explain the differences in bioaccumulation observed between laboratory and field conditions. Further investigation of additional environmental parameters is recommended to better understand the differences in accumulation between laboratory and in situ exposure. A more in-depth better understanding of the influence of environmental parameters governing the bioaccumulation of infectious FRNAPH in mussels will enable them to be used more robustly for environmental monitoring, leading to improved better management of waterways and better protection of public health.
