Role of Candida in the bioremediation of pollutants: a review.

The population and modernization of society have increased dramatically from past few decades. In order to meet societal expectations, there has been a massive industrialization and resource exploitation. Anthropogenic practices like disposal of hazardous waste, large carbon footprint release variety of xenobiotic substances into the environment, which endanger the health of the natural ecosystem. Therefore, discovering proper long-term treatment approaches is a global concern. Various physical and chemical approaches are employed to remove contaminants. However, these technologies possess limitations like high cost and low efficacy. Consequently, bioremediation is regarded as one of the most promising remedies to these problems. It creates the option of either totally removing pollutants or transforming them into nonhazardous compounds with the use of natural biological agents. Several microorganisms are being utilized for bioremediation among which yeasts possess benefits such as high biodegradability, ease of cultivation etc. The yeast of Candida genus has the capability to effectively eliminate heavy metal ions, as well as to degrade and emulsify hydrocarbons which makes it a promising candidate for this purpose. The review highlights many potential uses of Candida in various remediation strategies and discusses future directions for research in this field.

Pharmaceutical prospects of biosurfactants produced from fungal species.

The development of novel types of biogenic surface-active compounds is of greater interest for combating many diseases and infections. In this respect research and development of biosurfactant has gained immense importance. Substantially, biosurfactant is defined as a class of active amphiphilic chemical compounds that comprise hydrophobic and hydrophilic moieties on their surfaces. It is generally known that many kinds of microorganisms can be used to produce these surfactants or surface-active compounds. Hosting interesting features such as biodegradability, emulsifying/de-emulsifying capacity, low toxicity, and antimicrobial activities; these amphiphilic compounds in recent years have flourished as an ideal replacement for the chemically synthesized surfactant, and also have various commercial attractions. Both bacteria and fungi are the producers of these amphiphilic molecules; however, the pathogenicity of certain bacterial strains has caused a shift in interest toward fungi. Therefore, various fungi species have been reported for the production of biosurfactants amongst which Candida species have been the most studied strains. Biosurfactants uphold desired properties like antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antiadhesion, and anticancer activity which proves them an ideal candidate for the application in various fields like pharmaceutical, gene therapy, medical insertion safety, immunotherapy to fight against many chronic diseases, and so forth. Hence, this review article discusses the pharmaceutical prospects of biosurfactants produced from different fungal species, providing new directions toward the discovery and development of molecules with novel structures and diverse functions for advanced application in the medical field.