Comparison of polycarbonate and polytetrafluoroethylene filters for sampling of airborne bacteriophages

Abstract

Aerosolized coliphage phiX174 and lactococcal phage P008 were sampled with two types of filter, polycarbonate (PC) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). The recovery was determined by plaque assays and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Recovery by qPCR was greater than by culture and PC filters outperformed PTFE filters both by culture and by qPCR relative recovery. The results of the plaque assays showed that the infectivity of the recovered phages was affected by the aerosolization/air sampling. The presence of viruses in air samples should be determined by culture-independent assays.