Biodiversity of killer activity in yeasts isolated from the Brazilian rain forest

The occurrence of killer activity against a panel composed of 22 industrially and (or) medically important yeasts was investigated in 438 yeast and yeast-like cultures belonging to 96 species, isolated from different environments of the Brazilian rain forest. Altogether, 26% of ascomycetes, 56% of b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian Journal of Microbiology
Main Authors: Buzzini, Pietro, Martini, Alessandro
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2000
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/w00-032
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/w00-032
Description
Summary:The occurrence of killer activity against a panel composed of 22 industrially and (or) medically important yeasts was investigated in 438 yeast and yeast-like cultures belonging to 96 species, isolated from different environments of the Brazilian rain forest. Altogether, 26% of ascomycetes, 56% of basidiomycetes, and 42% of yeast-like cultures exhibited killer activity against at least one of the panel yeasts. More than 15 species never reported before as toxin producers were found, with Pseudozyma antarctica, Trichosporon asteroides, and Geotrichum klebahnii, showing the broader activity spectra. Plasmid curing did not cure the killer phenotypes of Candida maltosa, Debaryomyces hansenii, G. klebahnii, Tr. asteroides, Cryptococcus laurentii, and Ps. antarctica.Key words: yeasts, killer activity, tropical environments.