Kazachstania hellenica sp. nov., a novel ascomycetous yeast from a Botrytis-affected grape must fermentation.

Four ascomycetous yeast strains (D4W13, D9W2, D9W4 and D9W17T) were isolated from Botrytis-affected fermenting grape juice originating from Attica Province, Greece. Phylogenetic analysis of rRNA gene sequences (18S, 26S and 5.8S-ITS) showed that the four strains represent a distinct species within the genus Kazachstania, closely related to Kazachstania zonata NBRC 100504T and Kazachstania gamospora NBRC 11056T. Electrophoretic karyotyping and physiological analysis support the affiliation of the four strains in a novel species for which the name Kazachstania hellenica sp. nov. is proposed, with D9W17T (=CBS 10706T=NBRC 103637T) as the type strain.