A Saccharomyces cerevisiae-based bioassay for assessing pesticide toxicity

Abstract

This study evaluates the toxic effect of three pesticides (Azoxystrobin, Cymoxanil, and Diuron) on the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the development of a new bioassay based on inhibition of S. cerevisiae metabolic activity at the level of adenosine-5-triphosphate (ATP) synthesis, as compared with two different toxicity tests based on inhibition of Daphnia magna mobility (NF EN ISO 6341) and inhibition of Vibrio fisheri activity (NF EN ISO 11348). The S. cerevisiae bioassay is cheaper and 96 times faster than the D. magna toxicity bioassay, but has lower sensitivity. It is as fast as the V. fisheri bioassay and more sensitive. Thus, this new toxicity test can be proposed for rapid detection of pesticide residues in environmental samples as a complement to the more expensive and time-consuming D. magna toxicity test. © 2009 Society for Industrial Microbiology.