BACKGROUND Opportunistic pathogenic yeast species are frequently associated with water habitats that have pollution sources of human or animal origin. Candida albicans has already been suggested as a faecal indicator microorganism for aquatic environments. OBJECTIVES The goal of this study was to investigate the occurrence of C. albicans and other opportunistic yeasts in sand and seawater samples from beaches in Brazil to assess their correlation with Escherichia coli, and to characterise the pathogenic potential of the yeast isolates. METHODS Opportunistic species (yeasts that grow at 37ºC) were isolated from sand and seawater samples from eight beaches in Brazil during the summer and the winter. Opportunistic yeast species were evaluated for their susceptibility to antifungal drugs, virulence factors, and the in vitro and in vivo biofilm formation. Strains were selected to carry out virulence tests using BALB/c mice. FINDINGS Several water samples could be classified as inappropriate for primary contact recreation in relation to E. coli densities. C. albicans was isolated in low densities. Of the 144 opportunistic yeasts evaluated, 61% displayed resistance or dose-dependent sensitivity to at least one tested drug, and 40% produced proteinase. Strains of C. albicans and Kodamaea ohmeri exhibited the highest rates of adhesion to buccal epithelial cells. All the C. albicans strains that were tested were able to undergo morphogenesis and form a biofilm on catheter fragments in both in vitro and in vivo experiments. It was possible to confirm the pathogenic potential of three of these strains during the disseminated infection test. MAIN CONCLUSIONS The identification of opportunistic yeast species in seawater and sand samples from Brazilian beaches suggest a potential risk to the health of people who use these environments for recreational purposes.

Yeast communities were assessed in 14 rivers and four lakes from the Doce River basin in Brazil, during the rainy and dry seasons of the years 2000 and 2001. Water samples were collected at the subsurface in all sites. The following physical and chemical parameters were measured: temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, electrical conductivity, total phosphorus, ortho-phosphate, ammonium, nitrate, nitrite and total nitrogen and the counts of faecal coliforms and heterotrophic bacteria were carried out to characterize the aquatic environmental sampled. The yeast counts were higher in aquatic environments with the highest counts of coliform and heterotrophic bacteria. These environments receive a high influx of domestic and industrial waste. A total of 317 isolates identified in forty eight yeast species were recorded in the sites sampled and the specie Aureobasidium pullulans were found in eleven out of eighteen sites sampled and some opportunistic pathogens such as the yeast species Candida krusei were isolated only in the polluted rivers with a positive correlation with the biotic and abiotic parameters that indicate sewage contamination.

The diversity of yeasts collected from different sites in Antarctica (Admiralty Bay, King George Island and Port Foster Bay and Deception Island) and their ability to produce extracellular enzymes and mycosporines were studied. Samples were collected during the austral summer season, between November 2006 and January 2007, from the rhizosphere of Deschampsia antarctica, ornithogenic (penguin guano) soil, soil, marine and lake sediments, marine water and freshwater from lakes. A total of 89 isolates belonging to the following genera were recovered: Bensingtonia, Candida, Cryptococcus, Debaryomyces, Dioszegia, Exophiala, Filobasidium, Issatchenkia (Pichia), Kodamaea, Leucosporidium, Leucosporidiella, Metschnikowia, Nadsonia, Pichia, Rhodotorula, and Sporidiobolus, and the yeast-like fungi Aureobasidium, Leuconeurospora and Microglossum. Cryptococcus victoriae was the most frequently identified species. Several species isolated in our study have been previously reported to be Antarctic psychophilic yeasts, including Cr. antarcticus, Cr. victoriae, Dioszegia hungarica and Leucosporidium scottii. The cosmopolitan yeast species A. pullulans, C. zeylanoides, D. hansenii, I. orientalis, K. ohmeri, P. guilliermondii, Rh. mucilaginosa, and S. salmonicolor were also isolated. Five possible new species were identified. Sixty percent of the yeasts had at least one detectable extracellular enzymatic activity. Cryptococcus antarcticus, D. aurantiaca, D. crocea, D. hungarica, Dioszegia sp., E. xenobiotica, Rh. glaciales, Rh. laryngis, Microglossum sp. 1 and Microglossum sp. 2 produced mycosporines. Of the yeast isolates, 41.7% produced pigments and/or mycosporines and could be considered adapted to survive in Antarctica. Most of the yeasts had extracellular enzymatic activities at 4ºC and 20ºC, indicating that they could be metabolically active in the sampled substrates.