a Department of Agriculture , University of Sassari , Sassari , Italy.
b Department of Agricultural , Food and Forestry Systems (GESAAF) , Firenze , Italy.
Crit Rev Biotechnol. 2019 Aug;39(5):603-617. doi: 10.1080/07388551.2019.1601679. Epub 2019 Apr 25.
Killer toxins are proteins that are often glycosylated and bind to specific receptors on the surface of their target microorganism, which is then killed through a target-specific mode of action. The killer phenotype is widespread among yeast and about 100 yeast killer species have been described to date. The spectrum of action of the killer toxins they produce targets spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms. Thus, they have potential as natural antimicrobials in food and for biological control of plant pathogens, as well as therapeutic agents against animal and human infections. In spite of this wide range of possible applications, their exploitation on the industrial level is still in its infancy. Here, we initially briefly report on the biodiversity of killer toxins and the ecological significance of their production. Their actual and possible applications in the agro-food industry are discussed, together with recent advances in their heterologous production and the manipulation for development of peptide-based therapeutic agents.
杀伤性毒素是一类蛋白质，通常糖基化，并与目标微生物表面的特定受体结合，然后通过特定于靶标的作用模式将其杀死。杀伤性表型在酵母中广泛存在，迄今为止已描述了大约 100 种酵母杀伤性物种。它们产生的杀伤性毒素的作用谱针对腐败和致病性微生物。因此，它们有可能作为食品中的天然抗菌剂和植物病原菌的生物防治剂，以及针对动物和人类感染的治疗剂。尽管有如此广泛的潜在应用，但它们在工业水平上的利用仍处于起步阶段。在这里，我们首先简要报告杀伤性毒素的生物多样性及其产生的生态意义。讨论了它们在农业食品工业中的实际和潜在应用，以及它们在异源生产和用于开发基于肽的治疗剂的操作方面的最新进展。
