Isolation of basidiomycetous anamorphic yeast-like fungus Meira argovae found on Japanese bamboo

A basidiomycetous anamorphic yeast-like fungus, isolated from new bamboo shoots collected in Japan, was assigned to Meira argovae by comparison of conidial morphology, physiological characteristics, rDNA sequences, and DNA-DNA relatedness with the ex-type strains of Meira species. This is the first record of the finding of M. argovae from other than mite cadavers and in regions other than Israel. Phylogenetic analysis based on the D1-D2 domain demonstrated that Meira species and teleomorphic Dicellomyces species, which include a bamboo leaf parasite, D. gloeosporus, formed sister clades.