Cryptococcus foliicola sp. nov. and Cryptococcus taibaiensis sp. nov., novel basidiomycetous yeast species from plant leaves

Abstract

A molecular taxonomic investigation performed on basidiomycetous yeast strains isolated from plant leaves collected in two areas of China revealed two novel species, Cryptococcus foliicola sp. nov. (type strain HS 23.3 T= AS 2.2471 T= CBS 9920 T) and Cryptococcus taibaiensis sp. nov. (type strain ST 7.9 T= AS 2.2444 T= CBS 9919 T), among the non ballistoconidium-forming strains producing cream-colored colonies. These new species differed markedly from closely related species in the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and 26S rRNA D1/D2 region sequences. They clustered in a strongly supported clade represented by Cryptococcus victoriae in the Tremellales group in the phylogenetic trees drawn from ITS and D1/D2 sequences.