Abstract
The influence of xenobiotic compounds on environment and on living organisms has been reported as an imminent public health problem. Among them we can list the contamination by Alkanes present in petroleum, hydrocarbons and organic contaminant substances from industrial effluents. Also, heavy metals are of particular interest because of their persistence in the environment contaminating the food webs. Among the innovative solutions for treatment of contaminated water and soil is the use of biological materials like living or dead microorganisms. Yeasts exhibit the ability to adapt to extreme condition such as temperature, pH and levels of organic and inorganic contaminants that make them a potential material to be used to remediate contaminated environment application. The goal of this work was to search for yeast isolates capable to use n-hexadecane (alkane hydrocarbon) as a primary carbon source and for those able to tolerate high concentration of lead (Pb) within a collection of 90 isolates obtained from the Sao Paulo Zoo composting system. The isolated yeast strains were identified by mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) and by sequencing of the ribosomal DNA (18S and D1/D2) conserved regions. We found that the collection bares 23 isolates capable of utilizing n-hexadecane and one which is able to tolerate high concentration of lead (Pb) with a high biosorption index compared to the reference yeast strains (BY4742, PE-2, CAT-1 and BG-1). These results confirm the initial hypothesis that the Sao Paulo Zoo composting is the source for diverse yeasts species with biotechnological application potential.
Highlights
The influence of xenobiotic compounds on environment and on living organisms has been reported as an issue of concern and has been listed as one of 40 priorities for conservation policy and management [1]
Our previous reports used metagenomic approach to show the bacterial community structure present in this substrate [21] several bacterial strains from this exotic environment have been appointed as potential biotechnology tools [20] [22]
The diversity of yeast and filamentous fungi has never been described in São Paulo Zoo Park Compost
Summary
The influence of xenobiotic compounds on environment and on living organisms has been reported as an issue of concern and has been listed as one of 40 priorities for conservation policy and management [1]. Hydrocarbons and organic contaminant substances from industrial effluents are increasingly being disposed into the soil and water leading to pollution [2]. The anthropogenic Pb input in the environment decreased in the last decades after banishing its application as a gasoline additive in many countries. It is still widely applied in industries of paper, plastic, ceramic, automotive, semiconductors and pigments [4], and as a consequence Pb is still introduced in the environment nowadays [5]
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