Killer yeasts are ubiquitous in the environment: They have been found in diverse habitats ranging from ocean sediment to decaying cacti to insect bodies and on all continents including Antarctica. However, environmental killer yeasts are poorly studied compared with laboratory and domesticated killer yeasts. Killer yeasts secrete so-called killer toxins that inhibit nearby sensitive yeasts, and the toxins are frequently assumed to be tools for interference competition in diverse yeast communities. The diversity and ubiquity of killer yeasts imply that interference competition is crucial for shaping yeast communities. Additionally, these toxins may have ecological functions beyond use in interference competition. This review introduces readers to killer yeasts in environmental systems, with a focus on what is and is not known about their ecology and evolution. It also explores how results from experimental killer systems in laboratories can be extended to understand how competitive strategies shape yeast communities in nature. Overall, killer yeasts are likely to occur everywhere yeasts are found, and the killer phenotype has the potential to radically shape yeast diversity in nature.

中文翻译：

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杀手酵母的生态：自然栖息地的干扰竞争。

杀手酵母在环境中无处不在：在从海洋沉积物到腐烂的仙人掌到昆虫尸体以及包括南极洲在内的所有大陆的各种栖息地中都发现了杀手酵母。然而，与实验室和驯化的杀手酵母相比，对环境杀手酵母的研究很少。杀手酵母分泌抑制附近敏感酵母的所谓杀手毒素，并且通常认为该毒素是各种酵母群落中干扰竞争的工具。杀手酵母的多样性和普遍性意味着干扰竞争对塑造酵母群落至关重要。另外，这些毒素可能具有干扰竞争中无法使用的生态功能。这篇评论向读者介绍了环境系统中的杀手酵母，着眼于关于其生态和进化的已知和未知的内容。它还探讨了如何扩展实验室实验性杀手系统的结果，以了解竞争策略如何塑造自然界的酵母菌群落。总体而言，杀手酵母很可能会在发现酵母的任何地方发生，并且杀手表型具有从根本上改变自然界中酵母多样性的潜力。