Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Sep 15;13(9):655.
doi: 10.3390/toxins13090655.

Wickerhamomyces Yeast Killer Toxins' Medical Applications

Laura Giovati  1 , Tecla Ciociola  1 , Tiziano De Simone  1 , Stefania Conti  1 , Walter Magliani  1
Affiliations
Review

Wickerhamomyces Yeast Killer Toxins' Medical Applications

Laura Giovati et al. Toxins (Basel). .

Abstract

Possible implications and applications of the yeast killer phenomenon in the fight against infectious diseases are reviewed, with particular reference to some wide-spectrum killer toxins (KTs) produced by Wickerhamomyces anomalus and other related species. A perspective on the applications of these KTs in the medical field is provided considering (1) a direct use of killer strains, in particular in the symbiotic control of arthropod-borne diseases; (2) a direct use of KTs as experimental therapeutic agents; (3) the production, through the idiotypic network, of immunological derivatives of KTs and their use as potential anti-infective therapeutics. Studies on immunological derivatives of KTs in the context of vaccine development are also described.

Keywords: Wickerhamomyces anomalus; antimicrobial activity; killer toxins; killer yeasts; medical applications.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Application of the idiotypic network theory to the yeast killer phenomenon to obtain active immunological derivatives of KTs. (A) KT exerts a direct antimicrobial activity following interaction with the KT receptor (KTR) present on susceptible microorganisms. (B) Immunization with KT elicits neutralizing antibodies directed against the KT functional epitope. (C) The idiotype of a KT-neutralizing antibody, mimicking the KTR, may act as a vaccine eliciting anti-idiotypic antibodies. (D) Anti-idiotypic antibodies, whose idiotype mimics the KT functional epitope (antibiobodies), act as antimicrobial molecules through interaction with KTR on susceptible microorganisms. (E) Peptides derived from the binding site of antibiobodies may maintain the antimicrobial activity against KT-susceptible microorganisms (F).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Cotter P.D., Hill C., Ross R.P. Bacteriocins: Developing innate immunity for food. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 2005;3:777–788. doi: 10.1038/nrmicro1273. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Nishie M., Nagao J., Sonomoto K. Antibacterial peptides “bacteriocins”: An overview of their diverse characteristics and applications. Biocontrol Sci. 2012;17:1–16. doi: 10.4265/bio.17.1. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cotter P.D., Ross R.P., Hill C. Bacteriocins—A viable alternative to antibiotics? Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 2013;11:95–105. doi: 10.1038/nrmicro2937. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bevan E.A., Makower M. Genetics Today: Proceedings of the XIth International Congress of Genetics, The Hague, The Netherlands, September 1963. Volume I. Pergamon Press; Oxford, UK: 1963. The physiological Basis of the Killer Character in Yeast; pp. 202–203.
    1. Magliani W., Conti S., Gerloni M., Bertolotti D., Polonelli L. Yeast killer systems. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 1997;10:369–400. doi: 10.1128/CMR.10.3.369. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms