Taxonomic studies on the genus Cystofilobasidium: description of Cystofilobasidium ferigula sp. nov. and clarification of the status of Cystofilobasidium lari-marini.

A new species of the genus Cystofilobasidium is described as Cystofilobasidium ferigula sp. nov. The new taxon represents the teleomorphic stage of Cryptococcus ferigula and was obtained in mating experiments using three strains deposited in the Portuguese Yeast Culture Collection (mating types A1) and a recent isolate (mating type A2). Cystofilobasidium ferigula is characterized using an integrated approach encompassing morphological studies, investigation of the ultrastructure of the septal pore, a comparative study of physiological traits, determination of the DNA base composition, DNA reassociation experiments and PCR fingerprinting. During the course of this study, a close similarity of microsatellite-primed PCR fingerprints was detected between Cystofilobasidium lari-marini and Cystofilobasidium capitatum. DNA-DNA reassociation experiments gave high homology values, which indicates that Cystofilobasidium lari-marini must be regarded as a synonym of Cystofilobasidium capitatum.