The occurrence of killer activity in yeasts isolated from natural habitats

Yeast's ability to restrict the growth and kill other yeasts, fungi and bacteria has been known for over 50 years. Killer activity was detected in yeasts deposited in the world collections or isolated from natural habitats. In this study, isolates from the forest environment, leaves of fruit trees, flower petals, cereals and frozen fruit have been screened in terms of their killer activities. Killer activity was tested on strains belonging to six yeast species: Candida, Rhodotorula, Pichia, Pachysolen, Yarrowia, Trichosporon. The reference strains were Kluyveromyces lactis Y-6682 and Kluyveromyces marxinanus Y-8281, well-known to be sensitive to yeast killer toxins. Among one hundred and two tested strains, 24 (23.5% of isolates) showed positive killer action, and 10 (9.8% of the isolates) a weak killer action against at least one sensitive reference strain. The highest killer activity was observed among isolates from forest soil and flowers.