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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 #267021
Title: Ogataea saltuana sp. nov., a novel methanol-assimilating yeast species

Author
item PETER, GABOR - Corvinus University
item DLAUCHY, DENES - Corvinus University
item TORNAI-LEHOEZKI, JUDIT - Corvinus University
item Kurtzman, Cletus

Submitted to: Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/17/2011
Publication Date: 5/27/2011
Citation: Peter, G., Dlauchy, D., Tornai-Lehoezki, J., Kurtzman, C.P. 2011. Ogataea saltuana sp. nov., a novel methanol-assimilating yeast species. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek. 100(3):375-383.

Interpretive Summary: This study is part of an international collaboration to discover new yeasts of biotechnological importance. Strains of the new yeast, named Ogataea saltuosa, were isolated from rotted wood from Hungary and New Mexico, U.S.A. Identification and phylogenetic placement of the species was from gene sequence analysis. This species is a member of a relatively small group of yeasts that grow on methanol (wood alcohol) as a source of energy. When exposed to methanol, these yeasts produce prodigious quantities of enzymes to metabolize the methanol. Molecular biologists have taken advantage of this phenomenon and replaced the methanol metabolizing genes with those that produce biotechnologically useful enzymes and other proteins, which can then be produced economically in large quantities. Following publication of the description of O. saltuosa, this new species will become available to biotechnologists for further study.

Technical Abstract: Four ascosporulating strains of an undescribed methanol-assimilating yeast species were isolated from forest habitats in Hungary. Three of them were recovered from rotten wood and one from leaves of a sessile oak. A closely related, but somewhat divergent strain was recovered from insect frass in a Ponderosa pine collected in New Mexico, U.S.A. Analysis of the D1/D2 sequences of the large subunit (LSU) rRNA gene placed the new species in the Ogataea clade. The internal transcribed sequences (ITS) and the D1/D2 LSU sequences of the rRNA gene repeats were compared for the above-noted strains and that of the type strain of Ogataea zsoltii, the closest neighbour among currently recognized Ogataea species. Their relatedness was investigated by parsimony network analysis as well. As a result of the sequence analysis, it was concluded that the five strains isolated from tree associated habitats represent a single new yeast species. Ogataea saltuosa sp. nov. is proposed to accommodate these strains. The type strain NCAIM Y.01833T (CBS 10795T, NRRL Y-48448T) was recovered from rotten wood of Scotch pine (Pinus silvestris) in Hungary.