TABLE 1.

Repeated freezing and thawing decreased the abundance and PMCA seeding activity of hydrated hamster and elk CWD prions, depending on prion strain and soil type

Sampled	Hydrated			Dehydrated
	PrPC/PrPSc abundance	PMCA conversion capacity	PMCA extinction dilution factor	PrPC/PrPSc abundance	PMCA conversion capacity	PMCA extinction dilution factor
UN	Decrease	NAc	NA	No change	NA	NA
DY	Decrease	No change	No changea	No change	No change	No change
HY	No change	No change	No change	Decrease	No change	No change
UN&SCL	No change	NA	NA	No change	NA	NA
DY&SCL	No change	Decrease	Decreaseb	No change	No change	No change
HY&SCL	No change	Decrease	Decrease	No change	No change	No change
HY&Bentonite	Decrease	No change	NA	No change	No change	NA
HY&SiO2	No change	Decrease	Decrease	No change	No change	No change
CWD363	No change	No change	No change	No change	No change	No change
CWD363&SCL	Decrease	No change	Decrease	No change	No change	No change
CWDt01821	Decrease	No change	No change	No change	No change	No change
CWDt01821&SCL	Decrease	Decrease	Decrease	No change	No change	NA

^aDifference of PMCA extinction dilution factor is less than 1 order of magnitude.

^bDifference of PMCA extinction dilution factor is 1 order of magnitude or greater.

^cNA, not applicable.

^dUN&SCL, uninfected samples bound to SCL; DY&SCL, DY PrP^Sc bound to SCL; HY&SCL, HY PrP^Sc bound to SCL; HY&Bentonite, HY PrP^Sc bound to bentonite; HY&SiO2, HY PrP^Sc bound to SiO₂; CWD363&SCL, CWD363 bound to SCL; CWDt01821&SCL, CWDt01821 bound to SCL.