Yeasts as a model for assessing the toxicity of the fungicides Penconazol, Cymoxanil and Dichlofluanid

Abstract

In the present work the sensitivity of yeast strains of Kluyveromyces marxianus, Pichia anomala, Candida utilis, Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, to the fungicides cymoxanil, penconazol, and dichlo¯ua-nid, was evaluated. Dichlo¯uanid induced the most negative eects, whereas penconazol in general was not very toxic. Overall, our results show that the parameters IC 50 for speci®c respiration rates of C. utilis and S. cerevisiae and C D for cell viability of S. cerevisiae can be applied to quantify the toxicity level of the above compounds in yeast. Hence, could be explored as an alternative or at least as a complementary test in toxicity studies and, therefore, its potential for inclusion in a tier testing toxicity test battery merits further research. Ó

Yeasts colonizing the leaves of fruit trees

“…Comitini and Ciani (2008) noticed a drastic reduction in the yeast population caused by fungicides. Saccharomyces cerevisiae exhibited the highest sensitivity to some fungicides (Ribeiro et al, 2000). Our results show lower incidence of this species on leaves of fruit trees in comparison to wood trees, which could be affected by the chemical spraying of fruit trees.…”

Saccharomyces Cerevisiae as a Tool to Evaluate the Effects of Herbicides on Eukaryotic Life

“…For example, yeast cells have contributed in recent years to clarify the role reactive oxygen species (ROS) in diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Friedereich's ataxia (Costa & Moradas-Ferreira, 2001). Studies on the evaluation of pesticides still depend extensively on the use of animals, but in the last years several publications have dealt with the development and appropriateness of alternative methods for assessing toxicity, that do not depend on animal utilization but explore the use of rapid and cost-effective alternatives (Ribeiro et al, 2000).…”

A Saccharomyces cerevisiae-based bioassay for assessing pesticide toxicity

“…Razmovski and Pucarevic [17,18] showed that flutriafol (a fungicide) decreased the protein and phosphorus cell content, as well as total ribonucleic acids, enzymatic activity (pyruvate carboxylase and isocitrate lyase), and respiration quotient of S. cerevisiae. Finally, Ribeiro et al [9] also observed that S. cerevisiae specific respiration rates were reduced by other pesticides (Penconazol, Cymoxanil, and Dichlofluanid), showing that pesticides inhibit the yeast's respiratory metabolism.…”

“…However, the majority of the existing microbial toxicity tests are not sensitive enough to detect low concentrations of pollutants [8]. Eukaryotes such as yeasts are potentially good models for assessing toxicity [9] as they are easy to maintain and culture under controlled conditions, thus avoiding the variability issues found with more complex organisms [10].…”