The killer toxin of the halotolerant yeast Candida nodaensis

Abstract

Several halotolerant yeast strains, displaying a broader spectrum of K activity in the presence of salt, were identified in a previous survey. The possibility that these zymocins could be more stable than the ones described so far, lead to the selection of the extremely halotolerant yeast C. nodaensis for further work. The experiments performed to characterize C. nodaensis K factor showed that, besides keeping its biological activity at high NaCl concentrations, is stable after incubation in a relatively broad range of temperature and pH values, whether or not in the presence of salt. These results renewed the interest on this zymocin for the development of yeast-based biocontrol strategies in several biotechnological applications. Several different approaches are in progress in order to achieve its purification and further molecular and biochemical characterisation.