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Cryptococcus lacticolor sp. nov. and Rhodotorula oligophaga sp. nov., novel yeasts isolated from the nasal smear microbiota of Queensland koalas kept in Japanese zoological parks

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Abstract

A total of 515 yeast strains were isolated from the nasal smears of Queensland koalas and their breeding environments in Japanese zoological parks between 2005 and 2012. The most frequent species in the basidiomycetous yeast biota isolated from koala nasal passages was Cryptococcus neoformans, followed by Rhodotorula minuta. R. minuta was the most frequent species in the breeding environments, while C. neoformans was rare. Seven strains representing two novel yeast species were identified. Analyses of the 26S rDNA (LSU) D1/D2 domain and nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer region sequences indicated that these strains represent new species with close phylogenetic relationships to Cryptococcus and Rhodotorula. A sexual state was not found for either of these two novel yeasts. Key phenotypic characters confirmed that these strains could be placed in Cryptococcus and Rhodotorula. The names Cryptococcus lacticolor sp. nov. (type strain TIMM 10013T = JCM 15449T = CBS 10915T = DSM 21093T, DDBJ/EMBL/Genbank Accession No.; AB375774 (ITS) and AB375775 (26S rDNA D1/D2 region), MycoBank ID; MB 802688, Fungal Barcoding Database ID; 3174), and Rhodotorula oligophaga sp. nov. (type strain TIMM 10017T = JCM 18398T = CBS 12623T = DSM 25814T, DDBJ/EMBL/Genbank Accession No.; AB702967 (ITS) and AB702967 (26S rDNA D1/D2 region), MycoBank ID; MB 802689, Fungal Barcoding Database ID; 3175) are proposed for these new species.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Yoshihiko Takagi (Saitama Children’s Zoo), Drs. Nobuhide Kido and Yukihiko Yamamoto (Kanazawa Zoo), Drs. Natsuki Hama and Eiko Shimokawa (Municipal Kobe Oji Zoo), and Dr. Hiroshi Hiramatsu (Tama Zoological Park) for their nasal smear sampling, and Dr. Shouji Toyoshima (Tama Zoological Park) for temperature measurement of the koalas. This study was supported in part by Health and Labour Science Research Grants (Research on Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases) H22-shinko-ippan-008, from the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare of Japan (K. M.).

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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Author notes

  1. Miho Sugamata

    Present address: Department of Pathology, Tochigi Institute of Clinical Pathology, 2308–3 Minamiakatsuka, Nogi, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi, 329-0112, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Teikyo University Institute of Medical Mycology, 359 Otsuka, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0395, Japan

    Kazuo Satoh, Mari Maeda, Miho Sugamata & Koichi Makimura

  2. Laboratory of Space and Environmental Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Teikyo University, 2-11-1 Kaga, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 173-8605, Japan

    Kazuo Satoh, Yoshiko Umeda & Koichi Makimura

  3. General Medical Education Center, Teikyo University, 2-11-1 Kaga, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 173-8605, Japan

    Kazuo Satoh, Yoshiko Umeda & Koichi Makimura

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  1. Kazuo Satoh
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Correspondence to Koichi Makimura.

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Satoh, K., Maeda, M., Umeda, Y. et al. Cryptococcus lacticolor sp. nov. and Rhodotorula oligophaga sp. nov., novel yeasts isolated from the nasal smear microbiota of Queensland koalas kept in Japanese zoological parks. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 104, 83–93 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-013-9928-y

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