TITLE:
Characteristics of Killer Toxin of the Yeast Cryptococcus pinus
AUTHORS:
Ekaterina Kulakovskaya, Anton Zvonarev, Vasilina Farofonova
KEYWORDS:
Cryptococcus pinus, Filobasidiella neoformans, Killer Toxin, Fungicide, Membrane-Damaging Activity
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biosciences and Medicines,
Vol.7 No.4,
April
23,
2019
ABSTRACT: This
work was aimed to study of fungicidal activity and mechanism of action of the
killer toxin of Cryptococcus pinus VKM
Y-2958. A killer-toxin preparation was obtained and partly purified from the
culture liquid of the yeast Cryptococcus
pinus. Its fungicidal activity against the pathogenic yeast Filobasidiella neoformans was assessed by assay of target cells growth
inhibition and propidium iodide staining. The preparation contained three
peptides with molecular masses of about 11 - 13 kDa, which did not show
similarities in the mass spectrometric analysis. When frozen, the killer-toxin
preparation remained active for several years. The killer toxin of Cr. pinus exhibits the high fungicidal
activity against the known pathogen F.
neoformans, is stable during long-term storage, and its mechanism of action
is based on damaging target cell membranes. The killer toxin was obtained by a
simple procedure and is of interest for the development of novel fungicidal
preparations.