ReviewsEmergence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a human pathogen: Implications for biotechnology
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Saccharomyces cerevisiae: friend or foe?
The saprophytic yeast S. cerevisiae is widely distributed in nature and has been used extensively since the dawn of civilization. Until recent times the primary use of this yeast has been in the production of bread (baker’s yeast) and alcoholic beverages (brewer’s yeast). It is also frequently ingested as a dietary supplement or inadvertently as a contaminant of food products.
S. cerevisiae has become increasingly important over recent years in biotechnology and is now one of the most studied
S. cerevisiae-induced disease
Although frequently encountered as a harmless body, commensal S. cerevisiae has been implicated in the induction of disease in a number of instances. It would appear that S. cerevisiae is exploiting the increased numbers of patients immunocompromised as a result of disease or therapy rather than exhibiting enhanced levels of virulence. A review of the medical literature indicates that S. cerevisiae isolates have been responsible for a variety of diseases ranging from superficial to
Superficial S. cerevisiae disease
Yeast-induced vaginitis affects approximately 75% of women at some point in their life, and a subpopulation of between 5% and 12% suffer from recurrent bouts of infection that may persist for months or, in severe cases, years [11]. Candida albicans is responsible for 85–90% of cases of this condition, with the remaining cases being due to a range of other Candida species. In a survey of the yeasts responsible for this condition in 2000 women, S. cerevisiae was identified as the causative agent
Systemic S. cerevisiae disease
S. cerevisiae-induced vaginitis may be unpleasant, and at times difficult to treat due to the inherent drug resistance of certain isolates, but it is not life threatening except in severely immunocompromised patients where systemic infection may result. Systemic fungal disease due to S. cerevisiae has been recorded occasionally and is most frequently found in severely ill patients and may be a contributer to, or in some cases the main cause of, death. S. cerevisiae has been implicated in
Virulence attributes of pathogenic S. cerevisiae isolates
Virulent isolates have been defined as those isolates of S. cerevisiae that are capable of growth at 42°C [26]. This is considered an important characteristic as febrile patients can manifest this temperature, and any organism that can survive and grow at this elevated temperature would have an inherent advantage. In an examination of a range of laboratory and industrial strains of S. cerevisiae, growth was observed over the range 37–40°C, but only virulent isolates were capable of growth at
Therapy for the control of S. cerevisiae disease
There are two major classes of antifungal agents: the polyenes and the azoles. Amphotericin B desoxycholate is the primary polyene for use against fungal infections and is produced by the Streptomyces. It is quite similar to a phospholipid in structure and length except that it contains a polyene hydrocarbon backbone as well as a polyhydroxyl backbone [34]. The drug is poorly soluble in water [35] due to the opposite polarities of the hydroxyls and hydrocarbons [34] and is conventionally
Drug resistance in pathogenic S. cerevisiae isolates
A range of antifungal agents have been used to treat S. cerevisiae infections and, in many cases, therapy has been unsuccessful. Underlying disease is possibly a factor preventing successful therapy [23]. The worldwide spread of HIV infection has brought about a large population of individuals susceptible to a wide variety of organisms, many of which had previously been regarded as nonpathogenic [44]. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was noted that many emerging fungal pathogens such
Implications for biotechnology
Although classically considered to be nonpathogenic, S. cerevisiae is now emerging as a cause of disease in immunocompromised patients [7], [8], [9]. A number of the virulence factors associated with clinical isolates of this yeast have been identified and partly characterized. It is generally agreed that the factors already described are only part of the overall complement of such factors, and the role of these in the pathogenicity of this yeast is poorly understood [26]. The work cited here
Conclusion
Although widely used for the production of bread and alcoholic beverages for thousands of years, S. cerevisiae is now being identified as an opportunistic pathogen in a number of cases. Those most at risk appear to be immunocompromised individuals but also patients showing no obvious predisposing factor and those working with the yeast on a regular basis. Although those isolates that have been implicated in disease have a number of clearly defined virulence characteristics, there remains the
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2022, International Journal of Food MicrobiologyCitation Excerpt :An enhanced response to the oxidative stress (Llopis et al., 2012), copper resistance (Strope et al., 2015), adherence mechanisms (Murphy and Kavanagh, 2001), optimal growth at 42 °C and pseudohyphal growth (de Llanos et al., 2006) may contribute to the host infection. The pathogenicity of S. cerevisiae has been comprehensively reviewed by Pérez-Torrado and Querol (2016), Anoop et al. (2015), and Murphy and Kavanagh (1999). This highlights the need for further research in virulence factors in clinical strains of S. cerevisiae and other QPS yeast species (EFSA-BIOHAZ Panel, 2008, 2020a).
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2016, Biological ControlCitation Excerpt :The switching from normal yeast to hyphal growth has been associated with pathogenesis and virulence in species such as C. albicans and in clinical isolates of S. cerevisiae (Gognies and Belarbi, 2002). Studies showed that laboratory and industrial S. cerevisiae strains, growth range was within 37–42 °C, but only pathogenic isolates were able to grow at 42 °C (de Llanos et al., 2006; Murphy and Kavanagh, 1999). Proteinase secretion is another important pathogenic factor in many Candida species and S. cerevisiae (de Llanos et al., 2006).
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2015, ToxiconCitation Excerpt :Some of them are active against pathogens of clinical importance. Opistoporin 1 and parabutoporin inhibited 50% growth (IC50) of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Murphy and Kavanagh, 1999) at a concentration of 2 μM (Moerman et al., 2002). Pandinin2 can inhibit the growth of Candida albicans (Pfaller and Diekema, 2007) with a MIC of 19.1 μM (Corzo et al., 2001).