ARS | Publication request: A new methanol assimilating yeast, Ogataea parapolymorpha, the ascosporic state of Candida parapolymorpha

Submitted to: Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: May 30, 2011
Publication Date: June 14, 2011
Citation: Kurtzman, C.P. 2011. A new methanol assimilating yeast, Ogataea parapolymorpha, the ascosporic state of Candida parapolymorpha. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek. 100(3):455-462.

Interpretive Summary: Yeasts that utilize methanol as a sole source of energy have important applications in biotechnology. When in the presence of methanol, large amounts of methanol-utilizing enzymes are produced by these yeasts. Biotechnologists have replaced the genes for these enzymes with those that code for other products, such as therapeutically important proteins, which are then produced in high yields. One of the primary species for this technology is Ogataea (Hansenula) polymorpha. On the basis of multigene sequence analysis, the new yeast Ogataea parapolymorpha is described and is closely related to O. polymorpha and to O. angusta. The latter species was previously regarded to be a synonym of O. polymorpha. O. angusta is known only form California, USA, in association with Drosophila and Aulacigaster flies, whereas O. parapolymorpha is predominantly associated with insects from trees in the eastern U.S., but O. polymorpha has been isolated from various substrates in the U.S., Brazil, Spain, and Costa Rica. Discovery of this species adds an additional species to the list of those useful to biotechnology. Furthermore, because O. polymorpha is sometimes isolated from human infections, the closely related O. parapolymorpha may prove to be a safer species for biotechnological uses.

Technical Abstract: Ogataea parapolymorpha sp. n. (NRRL YB-1982, CBS 12304, type strain), the ascosporic state of Candida parapolymorpha, is described. The species appears homothallic, assimilates methanol as is typical of most Ogataea species and forms hat-shaped ascospores in asci that become deliquescent. Ogataea parapolymorpha is closely related to O. angusta and O. polymorpha. The three species can be resolved from gene sequence analyses but are unresolved from fermentation and growth reactions that are typically used for yeast identification. On the basis of multiple isolates, O. angusta is known only from California, USA, in association with Drosophila and Aulacigaster flies, whereas O. parapolymorpha is predominantly associated with insect frass from trees in the eastern USA, but O. polymorpha has been isolated from various substrates in the USA, Brazil, Spain, and Costa Rica.