Comparison of four concentration methods of adenovirus, norovirus and rotavirus in tap water

Human enteric viruses, as adenovirus (HAdV), norovirus (HuNoV) and rotavirus (RVA) are significant causes of gastroenteritis associated with consumption of contaminated water worldwide. Various methods have been described for their detection and monitoring in water. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of four conditions for concentrating HAdV, HuNoV and RVA from water matrices, in order to develop a single protocol that could simultaneously concentrate all target viruses from tap water. The tested conditions were based on the adsorption-elution using electronegative filters, in which we evaluated cation-coated filtration by MgCl2 with or without acid rinse by H2SO4 and two elution buffers, namely NaOH and tris-glycine-beef extract. Genomic material was extracted and amplified by real-time PCR and real-time RT-PCR using commercial kits. Based on the statistical analysis of amplification results (cycles of quantification), the condition involving cation-coated filtration by MgCl2 using electronegative filters with acid rinse by H2SO4 combined with NaOH elution allowed efficient recovery of both HAdV, HuNoV and RVA from tap water compared to the other conditions. These findings confirm the effectiveness of the approach used to monitor three major enteric viruses in tap water. •The performance of four concentration conditions based on adsorption and elution through negatively charged filters were tested in detecting Adenovirus (HAdV), Norovirus (HuNoV) and Rotavirus (RVA) in tap water•These conditions were: (1) Filtration with preconditioning using MgCl2 and elution with NaOH, (2) Filtration with preconditioning using MgCl2 and elution with Tris-Glycine-Beef extract (TGBE), (3) Filtration without preconditioning and elution with NaOH, and (4) Filtration without preconditioning and elution with TGBE.•The ranking of concentration conditions varied depending on the specific virus being tested.•Based on statistical analysis of amplification results (Cycles of quantification), the condition involving cation-coated filtration by MgCl2 using electronegative filters, coupled with acid rinse using H2SO4 and NaOH elution, enabled efficient recovery of HAdV, HuNoV, and RVA from tap water, outperforming other conditions. This method consistently produces reproducible and consistent Cq values, rendering it a promising choice for routine virus research in water samples within virology laboratories.