Exploring the Structure-Function Relationship of Killer Toxin Immunity

Fungi cause millions of deaths every year and are responsible for a significant portion of food spoilage around the world. There is a great need to find new, more effective methods to combat harmful fungi. Killer yeasts, which produce antifungal ‘killer’ toxins, are a potential solution to this problem, however research into them is slow and challenging. This research is aimed at gaining structural understanding of known killer toxins from Saccharomyces and similar yeasts with a focus on K1 in order to open up new avenues of research into them. Twenty-two structural models of Saccharomycotina toxins have already been generated and optimized using GROMACS and the neural network AlphaFold2. Models of K1 suggest an interaction between the gamma and alpha domains, which we are testing with the Yeast 2 Hybrid system. Through this study we aim to provide a basis of knowledge upon which many new hypotheses about Saccharomyces killer toxins can be generated to expedite their potential use as precursors for antifungal agents