Anaerobic yeast killer systems

The influence of anaerobic conditions on the expression of the killer phenomenon of several yeast isolates belonging to recognized killer systems coded by different genetic determinants (Pichia spp., Kluyveromyces lactis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae) was studied. Anaerobiosis influenced the activity of killer toxins from some individual isolates of the genera Pichia and Saccharomyces on sensitive strains of P. anomala, K. lactis and Candida albicans. However, no influence was detectable on a S. cerevisiae sensitive isolate. Thus, anaerobic conditions seem to interfere more with the metabolic process of sensitive strains than with toxin production by killer yeasts. The selection of a panel of killer yeasts, able to display their activity against reference sensitive yeast isolates under anaerobic conditions in a medium that favored the growth of anaerobes, allowed the use of the killer system to type Bacteroides fragilis isolates for epidemiological purposes.