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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #306990

Title: Description of Kuraishia piskuri f.a., sp. nov., a new methanol assimilating yeast and transfer of phylogenetically related Candida species to the genera Kuraishia and Nakazawaea as new combinations

Author
item Kurtzman, Cletus
item Robnett, Christie

Submitted to: Federation of European Microbiological Societies Yeast Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/30/2014
Publication Date: 11/1/2014
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/60463
Citation: Kurtzman, C.P., Robnett, C.J. 2014. Description of Kuraishia piskuri f.a., sp. nov., a new methanol assimilating yeast and transfer of phylogenetically related Candida species to the genera Kuraishia and Nakazawaea as new combinations. Federation Of European Microbiological Societies Yeast Research. 14(7):1028-1036.

Interpretive Summary: Yeasts that grow on methanol and that form extracellular polysaccharides are of interest to biotechologists and to medical researchers. Methanol-assimilating yeasts are used to facilitate recombinant DNA research and yeast polysaccharides have been shown to slow the growth of malignancies. In this paper, a new yeast species named Kuraishia piskuri is described. The three known strains of this species grow on methanol but do not form significant amounts of extracellular polysaccharide. However, this new species is closely related to polysaccharide producers and comparison of its genome with related polysaccharide producers will lead to an understanding of the genetics of polysaccharide production. Identification and phylogenetic placement of the species was from gene sequence analysis. In addition to the new species description, closely related species of the asexual genus Candida are transferred to the genera Kuraishia and Nakazawaea in accord with the recently approved International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. Following publication of the description of K. piskuri, this new species will become available to biotechnologists for further study.

Technical Abstract: The new anamorphic yeast Kuraishia piskuri, f.a., sp. nov. is described for three strains that were isolated from insect frass from trees growing in Florida, USA (type strain, NRRL YB-2544, CBS 13714). Species placement was based on phylogenetic analysis of nuclear gene sequences for the D1/D2 domains of large subunit rRNA, small subunit rRNA, translation elongation factor-1a, and subunits B1 and B2 of RNA polymerase II B. From this analysis, the anamorphic species Candida borneana, C. cidri, C. floccosa, C. hungarica, and C. ogatae were transferred to the genus Kuraishia as new combinations, and Candida anatomiae, C. ernobii, C. ishiwadae, C. laoshanensis, C. molendini-olei, C. peltata, C. pomicola, C. populi, C. wickerhamii, and C. wyomingensis were transferred to the genus Nakazawaea.