Bacteria-mediated stabilization of a panel of Picornaviruses

Abstract

Several viruses encounter various bacterial species within the host and in the environment. Despite these close encounters, the effects of bacteria on picornaviruses specifically is not completely understood. Previous work determined that poliovirus (PV), an enteric virus, has enhanced virion stability when exposed to bacteria or bacterial surface polysaccharides such as lipopolysaccharide. Virion stabilization by bacteria may be important for inter-host transmission since a mutant PV with reduced bacterial binding had a fecal-oral transmission defect in mice. Therefore, we investigated whether bacteria broadly enhance stability of picornaviruses from three different genera: Enterovirus (PV and coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3)), Kobuvirus (Aichi virus) and Cardiovirus (Mengo virus). Furthermore, to delineate strain-specific effects, we examined two strains of CVB3 and a PV mutant with enhanced thermal stability. We determined that specific bacterial strains enhance thermal stability of PV and CVB3, while Mengo virus and Aichi virus are stable at high temperatures in the absence of bacteria. Additionally, we determined that bacteria or lipopolysaccharide can stabilize PV, CVB3, Aichi virus, and Mengo virus during exposure to bleach. These effects are likely mediated through direct interactions with bacteria since viruses bound to bacteria in a pull-down assay. Overall, this work reveals shared and distinct effects of bacteria on a panel of picornaviruses.\n\nIMPORTANCERecent studies have shown that bacteria promote infection and stabilization of poliovirus particles, but the breadth of these effects on other members of the Picornaviridae family is unknown. Here, we compared the effect of bacteria on four distinct members of the Picornaviridae family. We found that bacteria reduced inactivation of all of the viruses during bleach treatment, but not all viral strains were stabilized by bacteria during heat treatment. Overall, our data provide insight into how bacteria play differential roles on picornavirus stability.