Hyphopichia xiaguanensis f.a., sp. nov., an ascomycetous yeast species isolated from plant leaves.

Two strains representing a novel yeast species were isolated from plant leaves collected in the Baotianman Nature Reserve in Henan Province, central China. Phylogenetic analysis based on the concatenated sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) and the D1/D2 domain of the large subunit rRNA gene revealed that the novel species belonged to the genus Hyphopichia, although the formation of ascospores was not observed. The novel species was related most closely to Hyphopichia paragotoi CBS 13913T but they differed by 0.9 % sequence divergence (five substitutions) in the D1/D2 domain and by 3.7 % sequence divergence (seven substitutions and eight gaps) in the ITS region. Furthermore, the novel species can also be differentiated from the closely related species in some biochemical and physiological characteristics. The species name of Hyphopichia xiaguanensis f.a., sp. nov. (Holotype CBS 16668, Mycobank MB 842425) is proposed to accommodate strains NYNU 20899T and NYNU 20914.