Yeasts from glacial ice of Patagonian Andes, Argentina.

Glacial ice and snow are known habitats for cold-adapted microorganisms. Research on cold-adapted yeast biodiversity from Perito Moreno and Mount Tronador glaciers (Patagonia, Argentina), and production of extracellular enzymatic activity at low temperatures (5 and 18 °C), was performed and described in this study. Ninety percent (90%) of the isolates were basidiomycetous; 16 genera and 29 species were identified.

UVB photoprotective role of mycosporines in yeast: photostability and antioxidant activity of mycosporine-glutaminol-glucoside.

Several yeast species are able to synthesize and accumulate UV-radiation-absorbing mycosporine metabolites that are of unclear physiological function. In this work we analyzed the relationship between mycosporine-glutaminol glucoside (MGG) production, cell survival after UVB irradiation, and formation of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs). We also assessed the photostability and singlet oxygen quenching activity of MGG.

Cryptococcus agrionensis sp. nov., a basidiomycetous yeast of the acidic rock drainage ecoclade, isolated from an acidic aquatic environment of volcanic origin.

Seventy-one strains were isolated from the River Agrio-Lake Caviahue acidic aquatic environment in Argentina. Strains were isolated mainly from the most acidic section of the river (pH 1.8-2.

Yeast diversity in the acidic Rio Agrio-Lake Caviahue volcanic environment (Patagonia, Argentina).

The Rio Agrio and Lake Caviahue system (RAC), in Northwestern Patagonia, is a natural acidic environment. The aims of this study were to characterize the yeast community and to provide the first ecological assessment of yeast diversity of this extreme aquatic environment. Yeast occurrence and diversity were studied at seven sites where the water pH varied between 1.