Yeast Microflora of Some Aquatic Habitats in El-Minia Governorate, Egypt

269 yeast strains were isolated from water samples collected from different sites in Minia governorate. These included 126 strains from fresh water, 108 strains from sewage and 35 strains from wastewater from sugar-cane factory. On the basis of 23 different physiological and morphological merkmals, the isolated strains were assigned to 16 species belonging to 11 genera. Total yeast cell counts as well as spectra of yeast species were highly variable in tested water. Total yeast cell counts ranged between $3.0{\times}10^3/l\;and\;1.8{\times}10^6/l$ for fresh water, $3.0{\times}10^4/l\;and\;3.0{\times}10^7/l$ for sewage and $1.5{\times}10^6/l\;and\;2.6{\times}10^7/l$ for wastewater from sugarcane factory. Debaryomyces hansenii, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa and Torulaspora delbrueckii were the dominant species in fresh water, whereas Debaryomyces hansenii, Thrichosporon beigelii, Rhodoforula mucilaginosa and Kluyveromyces marxianus were the dominant species in sewage and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Kluyveromyces marxianus and Trichosporon beigelii were the dominant species in wastewater from sugar-cane factory. Yeast human pathogens, Trichosporon beigelii, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa and Candida albicans were encountered in water samples indicating that water in El-Minia governorate is also polluted by some pathogenic yeasts.