Influence of pH and electrolyte composition on adsorption of poliovirus by soils and minerals.

The pH and the nature an concentration of simple electrolytes influenced the interaction of poliovirus type 2 with three soils, a sand, and a clay mineral. In electrolytes above pH 9 the virus was not adsorbed extensively to the substrates, but below pH 7 almost all virus was bound. For each adsorbent there was a characteristic pH region of transition from strong to weak uptake. Differences between the soils in virus uptake were shown to parallel their pH-dependent mineral. In electrolytes above pH 9 the virus was not adsorbed extensively to the substrates, but below pH 7 almost all virus was bound. For each adsorbent there was a characteristic pH region of transition from strong to weak uptake. Differences between the soils in virus uptake were shown to parallel their pH-dependent mineral. In electrolytes above pH 9 the virus was not adsorbed extensively to the substrates, but below pH 7 almost all virus was bound. For each adsorbent there was a characteristic pH region of transition from strong to weak uptake. Differences between the soils in virus uptake were shown to parallel their pH-dependent charge properties, as determined by whole-particle microelectrophoresis. Only when the pH was close to or above the critical region was uptake increased with electrolyte concentration. The transition region for all substrates was above pH 7.5 the isoelectric point of the virus. Thus, it appears that when both the virus and substrate are highly negative charged, repulsive electrostatic effects may exceed inherent attractive interactions, thereby inhibiting adsorption.