Naganishia floricola sp. nov., a novel basidiomycetous yeast species isolated from flowers of Sorbaria sorbifolia.

Two yeast strains representing a novel species in the basidiomycetous yeast genus Naganishia were isolated from flowers of Sorbaria sorbifolia collected in Beijing Olympic Forest Park, PR China. Results of multi-gene phylogenetic analysis indicated that the two strains were closely related to the type strains of Naganishia bhutanensis (CBS 6294T) and Naganishia antarctica (CBS 7687T). However, the new isolates differed from N. bhutanensis CBS 6294T by 1.79 % sequence divergence in the D1/D2 domain (11 nt substitutions and three indels), and 2.42 % (15 nt differences and one indel) to N. antarctica CBS 7687T. In the ITS region, the new isolates showed 1.15 % divergence (7 nt substitutions and one indel) to N. bhutanensis CBS 6294T and 0.92 % divergence (5 nt substitutions and no indels) to N. antarctica CBS 7687T. A phylogenetic analysis employing the sequences of six genes (D1/D2 domain of large subunit rDNA, ITS, small subunit rDNA, two subunits of the RNA polymerase II and elongation factor-1α) indicated that the novel species belonged to the genus Naganishia and formed a well-supported clade with N. bhutanensis, N. antarctica and N. indica. Moreover, the two strains differed from their closest relatives by the ability to grow on distinct carbon and nitrogen sources and ability to grow at 30 °C. On the basis of these findings, we propose a novel species in the genus Naganishia (Filobasidiales), Naganishia floricola sp. nov. (holotype CGMCC 2.5856).

Heterocephalacria sinensis sp. nov., Phaeotremella lacus sp. nov. and Solicoccozyma aquatica sp. nov., three novel basidiomycetous yeast species isolated from crater lakes.

The Arxan-Chaihe volcanic field of the Da Hinggan mountains in north-East PR China hosts various typical crater lakes. In this study we performed a yeast diversity survey using water sampled from five crater lakes and a total of 122 yeast strains belonging to 33 species of 25 genera were isolated. Three strains, TFL1-L, TFL2B and ATC4C, were identified as three novel species belonging to the Tremellomycetes based on a multiple gene phylogeny and on the comparison of physiological data. A phylogenetic study employing the sequences of seven genes indicated that the new species were more related to three separated phylogenetic lineages of the Tremellomycetes and their closest relatives were Heterocephalacria arrabidensis, Phaeotremella skinneri and Solicoccozyma keelungensis. The divergence values of the D1/D2 domain of LSU sequences of strains TFL1-L, TFL2B and ATC4C from H. arrabidensis CBS 8678T, P. skinneri CBS 5029T and S. keelungensisSN-82T were 4.8，3.4，2.1 %， respectively. The divergence values of the sequences of ITS regions between strains TFL1-L, TFL2B and ATC4C and their close relatives (H. arrabidensis, P. skinneri and S. keelungensis) were 16.1, 5.9 and 8.1  %, respectively. Moreover, the three strains differed from their phylogenetic neighbours by the ability to grow on distinct carbon and nitrogen sources. On the basis of these findings, it is suggested that these strains represent three novel species for which the names Heterocephalacria sinensis sp. nov. (holotype CGMCC 2.5595), Phaeotremella lacus sp. nov. (holotype CGMCC 2.5580) and Solicoccozyma aquatica sp. nov. (holotype CGMCC 2.5574) are proposed.

Wickerhamomyces kurtzmanii sp. nov. An Ascomycetous Yeast Isolated From Crater Lake Water, Da Hinggan Ling Mountain, China.

One novel ascomycetous yeast strain TF5-16-2 was isolated from water samples of Tuofengling crater lake located in Da Hinggan Ling Mountain, in the Inner Mongolia province of China. Morphological, physiological characteristics, as well as phylogenetic analyses of D1/D2 domains of the large subunit rRNA (LSU), ITS region, small subunit rRNA (SSU), and elongation factor-1α (EF-1α) were performed and finally confirmed the phylogenetic placement of strain TF5-16-2 in the genus Wickerhamomyces. Sequences analysis revealed that strain TF5-16-2 differed from its most closely related phylogenetic neighbors 'Candida' silvicultrix CBS 6269T and Wickerhamomyces anomalus CBS 5759T by 8.0% (including 2.3% gaps), 8.5% (including 2.4% gaps) divergences in D1/D2 domains of LSU, and 11% (including 4.3% gaps) and 13% (including 4.4% gaps) divergences in ITS region, respectively. As the considerable sequence divergence and distinguishable physiological characteristics, strain TF5-16-2 was proposed as a new species of the genus Wickerhamomyces, with the name Wickerhamomyces kurtzmanii sp. nov. (holotype = CGMCC 2.5597, Mycobank number is MB829959).