Pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) was recently found to be the most abundant RNA virus in human feces, and is a plant virus belonging to the genus Tobamovirus in the family Virgoviridae. When in human feces, it is of dietary origin from peppers and their processed products, and is excreted from a large proportion of healthy human populations, but rarely found in animal feces. Over the past decade, this virus has been increasingly attracting research attention as a potential viral indicator for human fecal pollution in aquatic environments and water treatment systems. Results presented in the literature reveal that PMMoV is globally distributed and present in various water sources in greater abundance than human pathogenic viruses, without substantial seasonal fluctuations. Several studies report that increased concentrations of PMMoV tend to be correlated with increased fecal contamination in general, along with more frequent detection of pathogenic enteric viruses. PMMoV also exhibits remarkable stability in water under various environmental conditions. Here, we review recent advancements in our understanding of the occurrence and persistence of PMMoV in natural and engineered water systems and discuss its advantages and limitations as a viral indicator for improved microbial water quality management.

辣椒轻型斑驳病毒（的PMMoV）最近被发现在人类粪便中最丰富的RNA病毒，而且是属植物病毒烟草花叶病毒在家庭Virgoviridae。当在人类粪便中时，它的饮食来源是辣椒及其加工产品，并从很大比例的健康人群中排出，但很少在动物粪便中发现。在过去的十年中，这种病毒作为水环境和水处理系统中人类粪便污染的潜在病毒指示剂，越来越受到研究的关注。文献中提供的结果表明，PMMoV在全球范围内分布并且以比人类致病病毒更大的数量存在于各种水源中，而没有明显的季节性波动。几项研究报告说，PMMoV浓度升高通常与粪便污染增加有关，而且病原性肠病毒的检出频率更高。PMMoV在各种环境条件下在水中也表现出卓越的稳定性。在这里，我们回顾了对自然和工程水系统中PMMoV的发生和持久性的了解的最新进展，并讨论了其作为改进微生物水质管理的病毒指标的优势和局限性。