UVC, UVB and UVA susceptibility of Phi6 and its suitability as a SARS-CoV-2 surrogate

Laura Weyersberg; Eva Klemens; Jule Buehler; Petra Vatter; Martin Hessling; Laura Weyersberg; Eva Klemens; Jule Buehler; Petra Vatter; Martin Hessling

doi:10.3934/microbiol.2022020

AIMS Microbiology

2022, Volume 8, Issue 3: 278-291. doi: 10.3934/microbiol.2022020

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Research article

UVC, UVB and UVA susceptibility of Phi6 and its suitability as a SARS-CoV-2 surrogate

Ulm University of Applied Sciences, Department of Medical Engineering and Mechatronics, Albert Einstein-Allee 55, D-89081 Ulm, Germany

Received: 19 April 2022 Revised: 07 June 2022 Accepted: 03 July 2022 Published: 08 July 2022

For SARS-CoV-2 disinfection systems or applications that are based on UVC, UVB or UVA irradiation, it would be desirable to have a SARS-CoV-2 surrogate for tests and development, which does not require a laboratory with a high biosafety level. The bacteriophage Phi 6, an enveloped RNA virus like coronaviruses, is an obvious candidate for such a surrogate. In this study, UVC, UVB and UVA log-reduction doses for Phi6 are determined by plaque assay. Log-reduction doses for SARS-CoV-2 are retrieved from a literature research. Because of a high variability of the published results, median log-reduction doses are determined for defined spectral ranges and compared to Phi6 data in the same intervals. The measured Phi6 log-reduction doses for UVC (254 nm), UVB (311 nm) and UVA (365 nm) are 31.7, 980 and 14 684 mJ/cm², respectively. The determined median log-reduction doses for SARS-CoV-2 are much lower, only about 1.7 mJ/cm² within the spectral interval 251–270 nm. Therefore, Phi6 can be photoinactivated by all UV wavelengths but it is much less UV sensitive compared to SARS-CoV-2 in all UV spectral ranges. Thus, Phi6 is no convincing SARS-CoV-2 surrogate in UV applications.
- SARS-CoV-2 surrogate,
- Phi6,
- ultraviolet radiation,
- radiation disinfection,
- UVA,
- UVB,
- UVC
Citation: Laura Weyersberg, Eva Klemens, Jule Buehler, Petra Vatter, Martin Hessling. UVC, UVB and UVA susceptibility of Phi6 and its suitability as a SARS-CoV-2 surrogate[J]. AIMS Microbiology, 2022, 8(3): 278-291. doi: 10.3934/microbiol.2022020

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Abstract

For SARS-CoV-2 disinfection systems or applications that are based on UVC, UVB or UVA irradiation, it would be desirable to have a SARS-CoV-2 surrogate for tests and development, which does not require a laboratory with a high biosafety level. The bacteriophage Phi 6, an enveloped RNA virus like coronaviruses, is an obvious candidate for such a surrogate. In this study, UVC, UVB and UVA log-reduction doses for Phi6 are determined by plaque assay. Log-reduction doses for SARS-CoV-2 are retrieved from a literature research. Because of a high variability of the published results, median log-reduction doses are determined for defined spectral ranges and compared to Phi6 data in the same intervals. The measured Phi6 log-reduction doses for UVC (254 nm), UVB (311 nm) and UVA (365 nm) are 31.7, 980 and 14 684 mJ/cm², respectively. The determined median log-reduction doses for SARS-CoV-2 are much lower, only about 1.7 mJ/cm² within the spectral interval 251–270 nm. Therefore, Phi6 can be photoinactivated by all UV wavelengths but it is much less UV sensitive compared to SARS-CoV-2 in all UV spectral ranges. Thus, Phi6 is no convincing SARS-CoV-2 surrogate in UV applications.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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