Lachancea dasiensis sp. nov., an ascosporogenous yeast isolated from soil and leaves in Taiwan.

A novel yeast species, Lachancea dasiensis sp. nov., is proposed in this paper based on two strains isolated from leaves and one strain from soil in Taiwan. The strains produce one or two spherical ascospores in each ascus, preceded by conjugation of individual cells. Genus assignment and distinction of the species from other recognized species of Lachancea are based on morphological and physiological characteristics and on phylogenetic analysis of nucleotide sequences of the D1/D2 domains of the large subunit (LSU) rRNA gene. Sequence analysis of the D1/D2 domains of the LSU rRNA gene reveals that the phylogenetically closest relatives of L. dasiensis sp. nov. are Lachancea thermotolerans and Lachancea waltii. The novel species could be differentiated from the latter two species based on electrophoretic karyotypes. The type strain of Lachancea dasiensis sp. nov. is SC5L02(T) (=CBS 10888(T) =BCRC 23139(T)), which was isolated from a leaf of Angiopteris lygodiifolia Rosenst. in Dasi, Taoyuan, Taiwan.