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Super Yeast Helps Remove Toxic Waste

Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

Searching through the Western Siberian peat bogs intrepid microbiologists have discovered a new strain of yeast. Taking the yeast back to the laboratory, it has been found that the yeast is very effective at waste water treatment – a natural cleaning-up agent.

The new yeast is termed Yarrowia lipolytica Y-3492 and the discovery was made by field researchers from Kazan Federal University. Tests have shown the yeast to be effective at dealing with nitrogen based compounds. These are waste products that pollute the water. Nitrogen comes from explosives, herbicides, insecticides, polymers, dyes, and medications.

In industry, different strains of the yeast are used for the production of specialty lipids. To treat waste, the yeast goes through different phases including fatty-acid bioconversion, substrate valorization and single-cell oil production.

Sources of nitrogen pollution include oil refineries and weapons manufacturing facilities. Some of these establishments off-load their waste material into rivers and streams.

To demonstrate the effectivity of the yeast, researchers tested it out in water tainted with trinitrotoluene (TNT). TNT is a common type of explosive and the basis of dynamite. A long-term study showed that the yeast reduced TNT levels by 50fold over a four month period. Compared with chemical agents (sorbents) the biological entity was more efficient and it did not produce a toxic by-product of its own.

The research is important because removing nitrogen from water intended as drinking water is a key health initiative. If TNT was present, for example, it would lead to poisoning of the body. The main body part affected is the eyes, with cataracts the most serious outcome.

The conclusion of the research is that Yarrowia lipolytica can be considered as an agent for the bioremediation of waste-water. The researchers plan to test out the yeast on a larger scale using a semi-continuous cultivation technique. It may also be possible to use the yeast as a means of ‘sniffing out’ contamination. By noting how the yeast behaves biochemically, a fast test for pollutants could be developed.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.thelatestnews.com

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