Ogataea paradorogensis sp. nov., a novel methylotrophic ascomycetous yeast species isolated from galleries of ambrosia beetles in Japan, with a close relation to Pichia dorogensis.

Two yeast strains isolated from galleries of ambrosia beetles in Japan and maintained in NITE Biological Resource Center (NBRC) as Pichia pini were found to represent a hitherto undescribed species. This species shows close relationship to Pichia dorogensis by the sequence analysis of the D1/D2 domain of 26S rDNA but is clearly differentiated from it by a DNA-DNA reassociation experiment. It is described as Ogataea paradorogensis sp. nov. The vegetative cells and asci of this species are surrounded with distinct capsules like P. dorogensis. One to four hat-shaped ascospores, which tend to be liberated from the asci at maturation, are formed in the ascus.