Yeast Diversity on Sandy Lake Beaches Used for Recreation in Olsztyn, Poland

Abstract

Yeasts possess a range of environmental adaptations that allow them to colonize soil and sand. They can circulate seasonally between different components of lake ecosystems, including beach sand, water, and the coastal phyllosphere. The accumulation of people on beaches promotes the development and transmission of yeasts, posing an increasing sanitary and epidemiological risk. The aim of this study was to determine the species and quantitative composition of potentially pathogenic and pathogenic yeasts for humans present in the sand of supervised and unsupervised beaches along the shores of lakes in the city of Olsztyn (northeastern Poland). The study material consisted of sand samples collected during two summer seasons (2019; 2020) from 12 research sites on sandy beaches of four lakes located within the administrative boundaries of Olsztyn. Standard isolation and identification methods used in diagnostic mycological laboratories were applied and are described in detail in the following sections of this study. A total of 259 yeast isolates (264, counting species in two-species isolates separately) belonging to 62 species representing 47 genera were obtained during the study. Among all the isolates, five were identified as mixed (two species from a single colony). Eight isolated species were classified into biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) and risk group 2 (RG-2). The highest average number of viable yeast cells was found in sand samples collected in July 2019 (5.56 × 10² CFU/g), August, and September 2020 (1.03 × 10³ CFU/g and 1.94 × 10³ CFU/g, respectively). The lowest concentrations were in samples collected in April, September, and October 2019, and October 2020 (1.48 × 10² CFU/g, 1.47 × 10² CFU/g, 1.40 × 10² CFU/g, and 1.40 × 10² CFU/g, respectively). The results indicate sand contamination with yeasts that may pose etiological factors for human mycoses. In light of these findings, continuous sanitary-epidemiological monitoring of beach sand and further studies on its mycological cleanliness are warranted, along with actions leading to appropriate legal regulations.

Keywords: beaches; lake ecosystems; microfungi; sand; sand pollution; yeasts.

Figure 1

Seasonal circulation of yeasts in lake ecosystem [10].

Figure 2

Location of research sites against the background of the administrative map of Olsztyn (northeastern Poland) 1—Beach on Lake Kortowskie; 2—Beach on Lake Skanda; 3—Beach on Lake Skanda; 4—Beach on Lake Tyrsko; 5—Beach on Lake Ukiel; 6—Beach on Lake Ukiel (“Miejska”); 7—Beach on Lake Ukiel (“Omega”); 8—Beach on Lake Ukiel (“Słoneczna Polana”).

Figure 3

Most often isolated species (microcultures on Nickerson’s agar in moist chambers, incubated at 25 °C for 144 h) (A)—Barnettozyma californica 1000×; (B)—Nakasemomyces glabratatus 1000×; (C)—Cutaneotrichosporon jrovecii 1000×; (D)—Cutaneotrichosporon moniliiforme 1000×; (E)—Debaryomyces hansenii 1000×; (F)—Solicoccozyma aeria 1000×. Scale bar: 20 µm.

Figure 4

Average yeast concentration (CFU/g) in sand from monitored beaches across both research seasons (2019–2020), presented on a logarithmic scale. Error bars represent estimated variability (±10% of the measured values).