Isolation of Aluminum-Tolerant and -Absorbing Yeast

Aluminum ions are toxic to bacteria and are thus frequently used for preservation in the food industry. However, at higher concentrations, aluminum is toxic to animals. The extraction of aluminum from aluminum-contaminated foods would therefore be beneficial. Based on the discovery of yeast strains that can tolerate and absorb toxic metals, we aimed to identify strains that could tolerate and absorb aluminum. In this study, yeast were isolated from soil samples and cultured in medium containing the toxic concentration of aluminum chloride (5 mM) for Saccharomyces cerevisiae BY4741. Among aluminum-tolerant strains, two strains, Alt-OF2 and Alt-OF5, were identified as aluminum-absorbing. D1/D2 sequencing revealed that both strains belonged to the genus Schizoblastosporion (syn. Nadsonia).