Detoxification spectrum of the cigarette beetle symbiont Symbiotaphrina kochii in culture

The ability of cultures of the cigarette beetle symbiont, Symbiotaphrina kochii Jurzitza ex. W. Gams and v. Arx, to utilize toxins as carbon sources and produce detoxifying enzymes was tested. This yeast could apparently use many of the plant allelochemicals, meal toxins, mycotoxins, insecticides, and herbicides tested as carbon sources, suggesting the ability to detoxify these compounds. Detoxifying enzymes that were detected using representative substrates included aromatic ester hydrolase, glucosidase, phosphatase, and glutathione transferase. This yeast was also able to hydrolyze the organophosphorus insecticide parathion. Thus, this yeast appears to have broad‐spectrum detoxifying capabilities. Either this strain of yeast, improved strains, or other microorganisms to which genetic material from this yeast has been transferred may be of use in decontaminating materials containing multiple toxins.