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update to killer strains
Various other yeast species have the ability to produce toxins that effect a range of other yeasts (but generally not bacteria), including species from the genera ''Candida'', ''Cryptococcus'', ''Debaryomyces'', ''Hanseniaspora'', ''Hansenula'', ''Kluyveromyces'', ''Metschnikowia'', ''Pichia'', ''Ustilago'', ''Torulopsis'', ''Williopsis'', ''Zygosaccharomyces'', ''Aureobasidium'', ''Zygowilliopsis'', and ''Mrakia'' <ref name="Buyuksirit">[http://waset.org/publications/9999528/antimicrobial-agents-produced-by-yeasts Antimicrobial Agents Produced by Yeasts. T. Buyuksirit, H. Kuleasan. 2014.]</ref><ref name="Stewart_2018" />. For example, strains of the yeast species ''Candida pyralidae'' <ref name="Buyuksirit"></ref>, ''Wickerhamomyces anomalus'', ''Kluyveromyces wickeramii'', ''Torulaspora delbrueckii'' and ''Pichia membranifaciens'' have been found to produce toxin that inhibits ''Brettanomyces'' <ref name="Ciani_2016">[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301581233_Yeast_Interactions_in_Inoculated_Wine_Fermentation Yeast Interactions in Inoculated Wine Fermentation. Maurizio Ciani, Angela Capece, Francesca Comitini, Laura Canonico, Gabriella Siesto and Patrizia Romano. 2016.]</ref>. In addition, the toxin produced by ''Wickerhamomyces anomalus'' and ''Williopsis markii'' have been found to inhibit a wide range of spoilage and pathogenic fungi <ref name="Hatoum2012"></ref>. Killer strains of ''S. cerevisiae'' and other yeast can occur naturally in the wild on fruit and can have a negative impact on other flora that are found in the same environment <ref name="Buyuksirit"></ref>. Strains of ''Torulaspora delbrueckii'' have been shown to kill killer strains of ''S. cerevisae'' (wine strains), as well as to kill ''Pichia'' species <ref name="Ciani_2016"></ref>. The occurrence of killer strains of yeast in the wild is also wide spread. For example, out of 210 yeasts from various genera isolated from molasses, 13 of them were killer strains. Out of 1,000 isolates of various ''Candida'' species isolated from human skin, 52 were killer strains. Out of 65 strains of various yeasts isolated from fermented foods, soil samples, and spoiled fruits/vegetables, 12 were killer strains <ref name="Bajaj_2017" />.
Scientists have used genetic modification to create ''S. cerevisiae'' strains that produce various killer toxins that can assist in completing fermentation in the baking, wine, distillation, and beer making processes. These yeasts are able to inhibit undesired yeast contaminants, preventing various off-flavors and other unwanted characteristics in the finished products. Ale and lager strains that have been modified to release these toxins have reportedly retained the positive fermentation and flavor characteristics of the original strains <ref name="Bajaj_2017" />. Branco et al. (2017 and 2019) discovered several strains of ''S. cerevisiae'' that excrete a biocin toxin that is active against several other genera of yeast, including ''Brettanomyces bruxellensis''. The toxin is composed of peptides derived from the glycolytic enzyme glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), which is a protein that serves many different roles in different species of microbes and animals. This toxin is produced by some strains of ''S. cerevisiae'' as they enter the stationary phase after primary fermentation. However, the amount of the toxin needed to inhibit ''B. bruxellensis'' was 10 times the amount that is produced naturally during fermentation. The researchers later genetically modified a strain of ''S. cerevisiae'' to over-produce the toxin, which they named "saccharomycin", at levels required to completely inhibit ''B. bruxellensis'' when co-pitched at a 1:1 ratio (10^5 cells/ml for both). This toxin was also reported to be highly active against ''Hanseniaspora guilliermondii'', ''Kluyveromyces marxianus'', ''Lactobacillus thermotolerans'' (inhibited at 250 μg/ml of toxin), while inhibition of ''Torulaspora delbrueckii'' and ''B. bruxellensis'' required very high amounts of the toxin (500 μg/ml and 1000-2000 μg/ml) <ref>[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00253-016-7755-6 Antimicrobial properties and death-inducing mechanisms of saccharomycin, a biocide secreted by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Patrícia Branco, Diana Francisco, Margarida Monteiro, Maria Gabriela Almeida, Jorge Caldeira, Nils Arneborg, Catarina Prista, Helena Albergaria. 2017. DOI: 10.1007/s00253-016-7755-6.]</ref><ref>[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00253-019-09657-7 Biocontrol of Brettanomyces/Dekkera bruxellensis in alcoholic fermentations using saccharomycin-overproducing Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains. Patrícia Branco, Farzana Sabir, Mário Diniz, Luísa Carvalho, Helena Albergaria, Catarina Prista. 2019.]</ref>.
* [https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/2202753476419521/?comment_id=2202936416401227&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R0%22%7D Bryan Heit's simple method for testing for killer sensitivity using nothing more than agar plates.]