Yeast Identification During Fermentation of Turkish Gemlik Olives.

Naturally fermented black table olives of the Gemlik variety are one of the most consumed fermented products in Turkey. The objective of this work was to identify yeast strains isolated during their natural fermentation by using Restriction Fragments Lengths Polymorphism-Polimerase Chain Reaction (RFLP-PCR) and DNA sequencing methods. The study also focused on determining the effect of regional differences on yeast microflora of naturally fermented Gemlik olives. A total of 47 yeast strains belonging to 12 different species which had been previously isolated from the natural brine of Akhisar and Iznik-Gemlik cv. olives were characterized by molecular methods. Forty-two of the tested strains could be identified by RFLP-PCR to species level. These yeast species were determined as Candida mycetangi, Candida hellenica, Candida membranaefaciens, Candida famata, Candida pelliculosa, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Zygosaccharomyces mrakii. Five strains were identified by DNA sequencing. These strains belonged to three different species: Aureobasidium pullulans, Kloeckera apiculate, and Cryptococcus saitoi. The most frequent species were C. famata and C. pelliculosa in both regions. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: This work studies the yeasts from Turkish table olives which could prove to be of importance to the food industry in that area. On the other hand, it compares identification by molecular and classical biochemical methods and offers an idea about the differences between the ecosystems of Gemlik olives in the Akhisar (AO) and Iznik (IO) regions. The study could be useful in characterizing a very important product and, in this way, could help to promote its marketing.

Kloeckera taiwanica sp. nov., an ascomycetous apiculate yeast species isolated from mushroom fruiting bodies.

Three apiculate yeast strains, EJ7M09(T), GJ5M15 and GJ15M04, isolated from mushrooms in Taiwan were found to represent a novel species of the genus Kloeckera. The phylogenetically closest relative of this novel species is Hanseniaspora occidentalis, but the type strain of H. occidentalis differed by 4.6 % divergence (25 substitutions; 5 gaps) in the sequence of the D1/D2 domain of the large subunit rRNA gene. This difference clearly suggests that the three strains represent a distinct species. As none of the strains that were examined in this study produced ascospores or exhibited conjugation on common sporulation medium either alone or in a pairwise mixture, this species could be considered as an anamorphic member of the genus Hanseniaspora, and a novel species, Kloeckera taiwanica sp. nov., is proposed, with EJ7M09(T) ( = BCRC 23182(T) = CBS 11434(T)) as the type strain.

Three new species of bipolar budding yeasts of the genus Hanseniaspora and its anamorph Kloeckera isolated in Thailand.

In the course of a survey of yeast biodiversity in the natural substrates in Thailand, eight strains were found to represent three hitherto undescribed species of Hanseniaspora/Kloeckera. They were isolated from insect frass, flower, lichen, rotted fruit and rotted wood. Based on the morphological and physiological characteristics, and sequences of D1/D2 domain, six strains represent a single species of the genus Hanseniaspora, described as Hanseniaspora thailandica sp. nov. (type BCC 14938(T)=NBRC 104216(T)=CBS 10841(T)), and another strain as Hanseniaspora singularis sp. nov. (type BCC 15001(T)=NBRC 104214(T)=CBS 10840(T)). A further strain, which belongs to Kloeckera and does not produce ascospores, is described as Kloeckera hatyaiensis sp. nov. (type BCC 14939(T)=NBRC 104215(T)=CBS 10842(T)). Strains belonging to H. thailandica sp. nov. differed by 17-19 nucleotide substitutions from Hanseniaspora meyeri, the closest species. DNA reassociation between the two taxa showed 30-48% relatedness. Kloeckera hatyaiensis sp. nov. and H. singularis sp. nov. differed by eight and 16 nucleotide substitutions with one gap from the nearest species, Hanseniaspora clermontiae and Hanseniaspora valbyensis, respectively.