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Psychrophilic yeasts from Antarctica and European glaciers: description of Glaciozyma gen. nov., Glaciozyma martinii sp. nov. and Glaciozyma watsonii sp. nov.

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Abstract

Field campaigns in Antarctica, Greenland and the Italian glaciers aiming to explore the biodiversity of these disappearing environments identified several undescribed yeast strains unable to grow at temperature above 20°C and belonging to unknown species. Fourteen of these strains were selected and grouped based on their morphological and physiological characteristics. Sequences of the D1/D2 and ITS regions of the ribosomal RNA demonstrated that the strains belong to unknown species related to Leucosporidium antarcticum. The new genus Glaciozyma is proposed and two new species are described, namely Glaciozyma martinii sp. nov. and Glaciozyma watsonii sp. nov. Additionally, re-classification of Leucosporidium antarcticum as Glaciozyma antarctica is proposed. Strains of Glaciozyma form a monophyletic clade and a well separated lineage within class Microbotryomycetes (Pucciniomycotina, Basidiomycota). The description of Glaciozyma genus and the re-classification of L. antarcticum reduce the polyphyletic nature of the genus Leucosporidium.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the SYNTHESYS Project (http://www.synthesys.info/) which is financed by the European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP6 “Structuring the European Research Area” Programme, by FEMS (Federation of European Microbiological Societies) and by MIUR (PRIN projects 2009). We thank Raytheon Polar Support Service, UNAVCO, and PHI for logistical and laboratory support while in Antarctica. Partial funding was provided for this project by the US NSF Office of Polar Programs to L. B. Connell (OPP-0125611). The use of trade, firm, or corporation names in this publication is for the information and convenience of the reader. Such use does not constitute an official endorsement or approval by the US Department of Interior or the US Geological Survey of any product or service to the exclusion of others that may be suitable.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Biology and Industrial Yeasts Collection DBVPG, University of Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno 74, 06121, Perugia, Italy

    Benedetta Turchetti, Eva Branda & Pietro Buzzini

  2. School of Biological Sciences, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia

    Skye R. Thomas Hall

  3. School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine, 5735 Hitchner Hall, Orono, ME, 04469, USA

    Laurie B. Connell

  4. Yeast and Basidiomycete Research, CBS-KNAW Fungal Diversity Centre, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Bart Theelen & Teun Boekhout

  5. Department of Cell Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Wally H. Müller

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  1. Benedetta Turchetti
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Correspondence to Benedetta Turchetti.

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Communicated by A. Oren.

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792_2011_388_MOESM1_ESM.tif

Fig. S1 Phylogeny of the Glaciozyma clade including the representative strains of the related species K. eriophori and C. hydrophilum. Maximum parsimony tree of D1/D2 region of LSU rRNA sequences. The topology was rooted with Rh. minuta. Bootstrap percentages from 100 replications shown on the branches (value below 50% are not shown). GenBank accession numbers of the sequences are indicated after strain numbers. (TIFF 574 kb)

792_2011_388_MOESM2_ESM.tif

Fig. S2 Phylogeny of the Glaciozyma clade including the representative strains of the related species K. eriophori. Maximum parsimony tree of ITS regions including 5.8 gene of the rDNA sequences. The topology was rooted with Rh. minuta. Bootstrap percentages from 100 replications shown on the branches (value below 50% are not shown). GenBank accession numbers of the sequences are indicated after strain numbers. (TIFF 568 kb)

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Turchetti, B., Thomas Hall, S.R., Connell, L.B. et al. Psychrophilic yeasts from Antarctica and European glaciers: description of Glaciozyma gen. nov., Glaciozyma martinii sp. nov. and Glaciozyma watsonii sp. nov.. Extremophiles 15, 573 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-011-0388-x

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