Hanseniaspora terricola sp. nov., an ascomycetous yeast isolated from Tibet

Eight apiculate strains isolated from Tibet, PR China, were identified as Hanseniaspora taiwanica and a novel species of Hanseniaspora based on the sequence analysis of the ITS region, the D1/D2 domains of the LSU rRNA and the translation elongation factor 1-a (TEF1) gene. Among them, four strains with identical sequences of D1/D2 and ITS formed a separate branch from the known Hanseniaspora species in the phylogenetic trees, and differed from the known species by at least 17 (3%) nucleotide (nt) substitutions in the D1/D2 domains and more than 6% substitutions and inserts/deletes in the ITS region. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that those four strains represent a novel species of Hanseniaspora, for which the names Hanseniaspora terricola sp. nov. (holotype CGMCC 2.6175(T); MycoBank MB 834591) is proposed. The other four strains belonging to H. taiwanica produce spherical, void or fusiform ascospores, which differ from the original description that ascospores are absent.

Automated summary

Eight apiculate strains isolated from Tibet, PR China, were identified as Hanseniaspora taiwanica and a novel species of Hanseniaspora based on sequence analysis. Among them, four strains represent a new species named Hanseniaspora terricola, while the other four strains belong to H. taiwanica with differences in ascospore morphology from the original description.