RT Journal Article
T1 Mycotoxin Removal and Transcriptional Response of Pichia fermentans KCB21_L2
A1 Gómez Albarrán, Carolina
A1 Rodríguez Pires, Silvia
A1 Sáez Matía, Alba
A1 Luz, Carlos
A1 Patiño Álvarez, Aurora Belén
A1 Gil Serna, Jessica
AB The presence of mycotoxins in food poses a significant risk to food safety, and it is essential to develop effective and safe detoxification strategies. In this study, we demonstrate the strong ability of Pichia fermentans KCB21_L2, a yeast isolated from kefir, to eliminate aflatoxin B1, fumonisin B1 and ocratoxin A. Viable cells removed aflatoxin B1 and fumonisin B1 more efficiently than heat-inactivated cells, particularly at pH values of 5.5 and 7.0, suggesting the involvement of an active removal process. Subsequently, we evaluated the capacity of P. fermentans KCB21_L2 to remove mycotoxins at high concentrations and investigated the underlying molecular and cellular responses. The yeast effectively eliminated high levels of all three mycotoxins. Transcriptional analysis revealed the activation of metabolic pathways related to amino acid catabolism and fatty acid metabolism, likely reflecting an adaptive stress response. However, no significant upregulation of specific genes related to mycotoxin-degrading enzymes was observed. In conclusion, the reduction process may involve multiple factors, including stress response pathways, possible production of organic acids, adsorption of mycotoxins into the cell wall, and constitutively expressed enzymes capable of degrading mycotoxins. In general, these findings highlight the multifactorial nature of yeast-mediated mycotoxin removal and establish P. fermentans KCB21_L2 as a promising candidate for safe biological decontamination in food systems.
PB MDPI
SN 2304-8158
YR 2025
FD 2025-12-05
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/133958
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/133958
LA eng
NO Gómez Albarrán, C., Rodríguez Pires, S., Sáez Matía, A., Luz Mínguez, C., Patiño Álvarez, B., & Gil Serna, J. (2025). Mycotoxin removal and transcriptional response of Pichia fermentans KCB21_L2. Foods, 14(24), 4181. https://doi.org/10.3390/FOODS14244181
NO This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through grant RTI2018-097593-B-C21R, and by grant PID2022-136803OB-I00 funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and co-financed by FEDER, EU. C.G.-A. was supported by an FPI fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PRE-2019-087768). S.R.-P. was supported by a ‘Margarita Salas’ postdoctoral fellowship funded by the Spanish Ministry of Universities and the NextGenerationEU program.
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
NO European Commission
NO Ministerio de Universidades (España)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 20 mar 2026