Postnova Announces Viral Collaboration with University of Helsinki

Postnova Analytics (Landsberg am Lech, Germany) has announced a joint collaboration with the Department of Biosciences at the University of Helsinki in Finland, to use asymmetrical flow field‑flow fractionation (AF4) for the purification of halophilic viruses.

Viruses that persist in extreme environments, such as high salinity or high temperatures, are of particular interest to researchers because of their unique adaptations for survival, and one of the main challenges involved in studying these viruses has been to identify an efficient separation technique-in particular, a separation technique that both purifies and maintains the infectious nature of the viruses.

A recent publication to come out of the collaboration details the technique developed to purify and study extremophilic viruses (1). Four viral morphotypes were successfully purified with high virus recoveries and purities comparable to those of multistep ultracentrifugation purification methods. The paper also explains how to use AF4 as a rapid monitoring tool for virus production in slowly growing host cells living in extreme conditions.

For more information, please visit www.postnova.com

Reference

• K. Eskelin et al., Extremophiles21, 1119 (2017).