Burgener K., S. S. Lichtenberg, D. P. Walsh, H. Inzalaco, A. Lomax, and J. Pedersen. 2024. Prion seeding activity in plant tissues detected by RT-QuIC. Pathogens 13, 452. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13060452.
Abstract
Prion diseases such scrapie, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and chronic wasting disease (CWD) affect domesticated and wild herbivorous mammals. Animals afflicted with chronic wasting disease, the TSE of cervids (deer, elk, moose), shed prions into the environment, where they may persist and remain infectious for years. These environmental prions may remain in soil, be transported in surface waters, or assimilated into plants. Environmental sampling is an emerging area of TSE research and can provide more information about prion fate and transport once shed by infected animals. In this study, we have developed the first published method for extraction and detection of prions in plant tissue using the real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay. Incubation with a zwitterionic surfactant followed by a precipitation with sodium phosphotungstate concentrates the prions within samples and allows for sensitive detection of prion seeding activity. Using this protocol, we demonstrate that prions can be detected within plant tissues and on plant surfaces using the RT-QuIC assay.