Discrimination between Candida albicans and Other Pathogenic Species of the Genus Candida by Their Differential Sensitivities to Toxins of a Panel of Killer Yeasts

Abstract

The differential sensitivities to toxins produced by a short panel of four killer yeasts allowed discrimination between 91 strains of the yeast Candida albicans and 223 non-C. albicans Candida strains. One hundred percent of C. albicans isolates exhibited negative results to the toxin panel, while 100% of non-C. albicans cultures gave well-defined and reproducible positive results to at least one of the four killer toxins. Among C. albicans strains only 96 and 87% gave germ tube (GT)-and chlamydospore-positive results, respectively. In addition a few GT-false-positive strains were detected among non-C. albicans isolates. Susceptibility to the toxin panel is apparently expressed more consistently than either GT or chlamydospore production and may constitute a promising basis for a new simple and easy-to-use procedure for routine discrimination between the species C. albicans and other species of the genus Candida.

Search for killer phenotypes with potential for biological control

“…Pichia anomala showed a narrower killer spectrum, in contrast to many previous works describing its killing activity against Candida pathogenic yeasts (Magliani et al 1997;Buzzini and Martini 2001). However, this variability in killer activity patterns can be explained if we take in account that the expression of K and S phenotypes is a (Breinig et al 2006), with each killer yeast displaying a specific spectrum of action.…”

“…The discovery of new antimicrobial agents is urgently needed to fight the serious global health problem of microbial resistance. Williopsis mrakii NCYC 500 (Walker et al 1995), the KT28 toxin of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Pfeiffer et al 1988), and the zymocin of Pichia anomala (Polonelli and Morace 1986;Buzzini and Martini 2001), have already proved their ability to kill human pathogenic yeasts, especially those belonging to the genus Candida (Klassen et al 2006;Polonelli et al 2011), which represent the majority of critical fungal infections. An antagonistic activity against Candida albicans was also reported recently in the yeasts Malassezia spp.…”

The viral killer system in yeast: from molecular biology to application

“…For instance in the food and fermentation industries, killer yeasts have been used to combat contaminating wild‐type yeasts which can occur during the production of wine, beer and bread [126–128]. Killer yeasts have also been used as bio‐control agents in the preservation of foods [129], in the bio‐typing of medically important pathogenic yeasts and yeast‐like fungi [130–133], in the development of novel antimycotics for the treatment of human and animal fungal infections [134,135], and finally in the field of recombinant DNA technology [136,137].…”

Typing of Staphylococcus epidermidis clinical strains by a selected panel of Brazilian killer yeasts

“…FEMS Microbiol. Lett., 193, 31 -36.[5] Buzzini, P. and Martini, A., 2001. Discrimination between Candida albicans and other pathogenic species of genus Candida by their differential sensitivities to toxins of a panel of killer yeasts.…”