Abstract
Biological control against microbial infections has a great potential as an alternative approach instead of fungicidal chemicals, which can cause environmental pollution. The pigment producer Metschnikowia andauensis belongs to the antagonistic yeasts, but details of the mechanism by which it inhibits growth of other microbes are less known. Our results confirmed its antagonistic capacity on other yeast species isolated from fruits or flowers and demonstrated that the antagonistic capacity was well correlated with the size of the red pigmented zone. We have isolated and characterized its red pigment, which proved to be the iron chelating pulcherrimin. Its production was possible even in the presence of 0.05 mg/ml copper sulphate, which is widely used in organic vineyards because of its antimicrobial properties. Production and localisation of the pulcherrimin strongly depended on composition of the media and other culture factors. Glucose, galactose, disaccharides and the presence of pectin or certain amino acids clearly promoted pigment production. Higher temperatures and iron concentration decreased the diameter of red pigmented zones. The effect of pH on pigment production varied depending of whether it was tested in liquid or solid media. In addition, our results suggest that other mechanisms besides the iron depletion of the culture media may contribute to the antagonistic capacity of M. andauensis.
Highlights
Biological control against microbial infections has a great potential as an alternative approach instead of fungicidal chemicals, which can cause environmental pollution
To expand the list of the species which can be inhibited by M. andauensis cells, wild yeasts isolated from fruits and flowers were investigated
Our data confirmed the antagonistic capacity of M. andauensis, as it was able to inhibit the growth of several Candida species, including Candida butyri and Candida orthopsilosis, as well as Starmerella caucasica, Pichia dorogensis, P. kluyveri, Issatchenkia terricola and Metschnikowia laotica (Table 2, Fig. 1A)
Summary
Biological control against microbial infections has a great potential as an alternative approach instead of fungicidal chemicals, which can cause environmental pollution. The pigment producer Metschnikowia andauensis belongs to the antagonistic yeasts, but details of the mechanism by which it inhibits growth of other microbes are less known. Species capable of biological control have received particular attention, because they are able to inhibit the growth of other microbes and thereby are able to protect fruits or vegetables against decay[1,2,3]. Different mechanisms, such as secretion of cell wall-degrading enzymes or other antifungal compounds have been proposed as being responsible for their antagonistic a ctivity[1,3,4,5]. Species Metschnikowia andauensis Metschnikowia pulcherrima Metschnikowia pulcherrima Metschnikowia crysoperlae Metschnikowia koreensis Metschnikowia laotica Metschnikowia pulcherrima Saccharomyces cereviaise Saccharomyces cerevisiae Candida intermedia Candida magnifica Candida orthopsilosis Candida suratensis Candida suratensis Candida stigmatis Candida verbasci Candida insectorum Candida butyri Candida boidinii Issatchenkia terricola Pichia dorogensis Pichia kluyveri Starmerella caucasica Trichosporon asahii Botrytis cinerea
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