The yeasts – versatile antimicrobial agents

Antagonistic yeasts present antimicrobial activity against a wide range of microorganisms, from other yeast species or strains, to bacteria and fungi from natural habitats, industrial processes or immunocompromised patients. The diversity of antimicrobial mechanisms depends mainly on the yeast species and might be represented by the production of killer toxins, enzymes and various cellular compounds or the presence of substrate competition mechanisms. The growing interest developed during last decades for the identification and characterization of yeasts with antimicrobial abilities, is related to their applications in biotechnology. The studies focus not only on understanding the genetic background of the antagonistic potential, but also on its improvement for controlling microbial contamination in natural and industrial fermentations, fruit decay and proliferation of pathogenic strains or biofilm formation on biomedical devices.