Date of Submission
Spring 2024
Academic Program
Division of Science, Mathematics, and Computing; Biology
Project Advisor 1
Rob Todd
Abstract/Artist's Statement
The impacts of climate change are observed globally. The rise in global temperature is one instantiation of these changes. Thus, organisms must be able to adapt as a response to the changing environment. Yeasts are microorganisms that are found all over the natural world including soil, plants, fruit, and mammals. Yeast play a fundamental role in maintaining a balanced ecosystem from decomposition to nutrient cycling, yet some species are opportunistic pathogens. In mammals, the warm body temperature acts as the first line of defense against pathogenic strains of yeast. However, with the current trend in rising temperatures, the environmental yeast strains may evolve to withstand the heat of human body temperatures, posing a potential threat to human health. Additionally, with the limited number of antifungal drug types available, accompanied by the adverse side effects to human health, further raises public health concerns as an outbreak of new fungal pathogens that are resistant to treatment can become fatal. This study surveys environmental yeast species from a high foot-traffic trail on the Bard College campus, through ITS sequencing , thermotolerance assays, and antifungal susceptibility testing using fluconazole on environmental yeast isolates to assess the prospective emergence of novel fungal pathogens able to adapt to mammalian body temperatures.
Open Access Agreement
On-Campus only
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Neyden, Tenzing, "Thermotolerance and Intrinsic Resistance: A Survey of Environmental Yeast Isolates" (2024). Senior Projects Spring 2024. 206.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2024/206
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