Richness and biotechnological potential of the yeast community associated with the bromeliad phylloplane in the Brazilian Neotropical Forest

We studied the phylloplane-associated yeast communities of bromeliads at four sites in the Brazilian Northern Atlantic Forest through a culture-dependent approach and evaluated their potential as enzyme producers. A total of 213 isolates were identified by sequencing of D1/D2 region of the LSU rDNA gene or ITS region. Sequence analyses revealed that 182 isolates (85%) belong to the phylum Basidiomycota and 31 isolates (15%) to the phylum Ascomycota. The yeasts were identified as 86 species associated to 41 genera, reporting the highest phylloplane yeast richness in the literature to the present date. Besides, 59 strains were distributed in 32 possible undescribed species (38% of the total species in the study). Only two species occurred in all sampled sites: Carlosrosaea sp. nov. 3 and Papilliotrema flavescens, evidencing the heterogeneous character of yeast communities at these environments. At least one extracellular enzyme was detected in 173 isolates (85.6% of total yeast isolates), and one isolate of Aureobasidium thailandense was able to produce all five evaluated enzymes (amylase, cellulase, esterase, pectinase, and protease). The yeast community associated with bromeliads from the Atlantic Forest demonstrated a high heterogeneity and richness not yet found in previous studies on bromeliads, with a significant number of potential new species. Our results highlight bromeliads as a hotspot for yeast biodiversity studies.