Baker's yeast can make plants tolerate soil contamination.

Baker's yeast can make plants tolerate soilcontamination. Most plant species, including crops, cannot tolerate the toxic effects of soil pollutants, which dramatically impair their growth and development. In a new study, a research team discovered that two genes from baker's yeast can increase plant resistance to a broad range of toxic substances, enabling their growth in contaminated soils. The study published in Scientific Reports, a research team led by Paula Duque from the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia (IGC; Portugal) discovered that two genes from baker's yeast can increase plant resistance to a broad range of toxic substances, enabling their growth in contaminated soils. Heavy metals and organic pollutants released into the environment by the industry, as well as the misuse of herbicides and pesticides commonly used in agriculture, negatively affect the quality of soils. Although some plant species are able to remove soil contaminants and grow normally, but these are a small minority. The current strategies to decontaminate soils are very expensive and not so effective. Researchers has been looking for alternative strategies to make plants more resilient to toxic compounds,and a possible solution may lie in Saccharomyces cerevisiae the common baker's yeast. The incorporation of the yeast to soil will boost growth and also solve an environmental problem of pollution and toxicity.