Yarrowia brassicae f.a., sp. nov., a new yeast species from traditional Chinese sauerkraut.

Two strains of a novel yeast species were isolated from traditional Chinese sauerkraut samples collected in Nanyang, Henan Province, central China. Phylogenetic analysis based on the concatenated sequences of the D1/D2 domains of the large subunit rRNA gene and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions showed that these strains belong to the Yarrowia clade, with seven clones of uncultured Yarrowia as their closest phylogenetic neighbours. They differed from their closest known species, Yarrowia divulgata CBS 11013, by 3.2 % sequence divergence (14 substitutions and 2 gaps) in the D1/D2 domains and by 5.4 % sequence divergence (12 substitutions and 5 gaps) in the ITS regions. The two strains of novel species reproduced asexually, and no ascospores could be found. The name Yarrowia brassicae f.a., sp. nov. is proposed to accommodate these strains, with NYNU 17218 (=CICC 33263=CBS 15225) as the type strain.