Lachancea mirantina sp. nov., an ascomycetous yeast isolated from the cachaca fermentation process.

In the present work, a novel ascomycete species, Lachancea mirantina sp. nov., isolated from the fermentation process that produces cachaça, a Brazilian spirit, is proposed. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the 26S D1/D2 rDNA locus showed that L. mirantina sp. nov. was genetically related to Lachancea cidri and Lachancea fermentati, although some physiological traits showed remarkable differences. Analysis of the D1/D2 large-subunit rDNA molecular marker showed a clear distinction among all three species, confirming that L. mirantina sp. nov. belongs to a separate taxonomic species in the Lachancea clade. The type strain of Lachancea mirantina sp. nov. is URM 5925(T) ( = CLIB 1160(T)  = CBS 11717(T)).