Mycosporine-glutaminol-glucoside, a UV-absorbing compound of two Rhodotorula yeast species

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), alone or in combination with mass spectrometry (MS), was used to screen the basidiomycetous yeasts Rhodotorula minuta and R. slooffiae isolated from lakes for the presence of UV-absorbing compounds. Mycosporine-glutaminol-glucoside (maximum absorption, 310 nm), a UV-photoprotective mycosporine known in terrestrial fungi, was the major UV-absorbing compound found in these species. This is the first identification of a mycosporine in yeasts. The presence of this compound seems to be a promising chemotaxonomical marker for yeast systematics. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.