Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model in ecotoxicological studies: A post-genomics perspective

The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae represents a well-consolidated and widely used eukaryotic model, with a number of features that make it an ideal organism to carry out functional toxicological studies. Several advantages are permitted by the use of yeast cells, as the possibility to identify molecular biomarkers, unknown mechanisms of action and novel potential targets. Thanks to the evolutionary conservation, yeast can provide also useful clues allowing the prioritization of more complex analyses and toxicity predictions in higher eukaryotes. The last two decades were incredibly fruitful for yeast "omics", but referring to the analysis of the effects of pesticides on yeast much still remains to be done. Furthermore, a deeper knowledge of the effects of environmental pollutants on biotechnological processes associated with the use of yeasts is to be hoped.