Yeasts are able to inhibit growth of disease-associated fungi

Background: Fungal sepsis is often caused by non-albicans Candida or other species. These disease-associated species have strong virulence and often show resistance to the commonly used antifungal treatments. Therefore, finding new inhibitory agents nowadays is increasingly urgent.Results Our screening revealed that although the pathogenic fungi were much more tolerant to yeast-produced bioactive agents than the non-disease-associated yeasts, growth of Kodamaea ohmeri and Candida tropicalis could be inhibited by Metschnikowia andauensis , while Cryptococcus albidus can be controlled by Pichia anomala and Candida tropicalis. The size of the inhibitory zone formed by yeasts was depended on media, pH and temperature. However, extensive studies were carried out, we failed to find inhibitory yeast against Pichia kudriavzevii, suggesting that it must have high natural resistance.Conclusions Certain yeast species can contribute to the future solutions of problems caused by fungal resistance and can be good candidates for finding new bioactive agents which inhibit growth of disease-associated fungi.