Yeasts as bioresources for pesticides bioremediation: A comprehensive review of the current status and future prospects

Since the 20th century, the extensive use of pesticides has played a crucial role in increasing agricultural productivity and addressing global food demand. However, their widespread application has led to significant environmental and human health concerns. Pesticide residues are frequently detected in soil, water and air, where they can persist for decades, accumulate in food chains, and interfere with natural environmental processes. Traditional remediation methods are often costly and inefficient, determining an increase of interest in more sustainable alternatives. In this context, bioremediation using microorganisms has gained attention, with yeasts, like Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida tropicalis and Trichosporon cutaneum, showing particular potential due to their metabolic versatility, ability to tolerate extreme environmental conditions, and ability to degrade a wide range of pesticides. This comprehensive review provides an overview of the current state of research on yeast-based pesticide bioremediation, highlighting the most effective ecotypes, the current known degradation mechanisms and the emerging research lines aimed at progressively guiding this knowledge toward future field applications.