Figure 1.

Representative scheme of yeasts in atmospheric, aquatic, and terrestrial environments. (A) In the atmospheric environment, yeasts have been found in the air of the highest mountains on Earth, the troposphere (T), even in the stratosphere (S), an environment of conditions of extreme cold, dryness, low atmospheric pressure, and high ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Yeasts are unlikely to proliferate in the air, viability is lost as height increases, but spores of some species can remain dormant and germinate later in favorable conditions. (B) In saltwater aquatic environments, yeasts can be found in the depths of the oceans, on the sea surface, in aquatic plants, in animals, etc. The conditions in this environment include combinations of temperature, atmospheric pressure, salinity or UV radiation. (C,D) In freshwater aquatic environments, yeasts have been found in rivers, lagoons, lakes, estuaries, glaciers, aquifers, geysers, etc. These environments may present combinations of conditions of cold, heat, dryness, acidic, alkaline, salinity, osmolarity, UV radiation, or toxicity (sites contaminated with industrial waste; e.g., heavy metals, chemicals, etc.). (E,F) In the terrestrial environment, yeasts have been isolated from soils, rocks, plants, animals, mountains, deserts, etc. The terrestrial environment presents combined conditions of cold, heat, dryness, acidic, alkaline, salinity, or UV radiation. Symbols for different extreme conditions are shown at the bottom of panels (A–F). Panel (C), based from Buzzini et al., 2018 [15]. Created using BioRender.com, accessed on 10 February 2022.