Taxonomy of the yeast genus Vanderwaltozyma and proposal of Vanderwaltozyma meishanica sp. nov., Vanderwaltozyma huisunica sp. nov., and Vanderwaltozyma molinica sp. nov.

Using electrophoretic karyotyping, RAPD fingerprinting and phylogenetic analysis of ribosomal RNA gene sequences, twenty-six Vanderwaltozyma strains were studied. Out of 19 strains isolated in mountainous areas of Taiwan, eighteen strains were isolated from soil and one strain was isolated from the fruiting body of mushroom, six were identified as V. polyspora and three as V. verrucispora. Based on the results of a multigene sequence analysis (D1/D2, ITS and mitochondrial COX II gene) and DNA-DNA reassociation, three new ascosporic members of the genus Vanderwaltozyma are formally described: V. huisunica sp. nov. (GA1S06 = CBS 12250 = BCRC 23260), V. meishanica sp. nov. (EN4S02 = CBS 12249 = BCRC 23255) and V. molinica sp. nov. (GJ8S05 = CBS 12251 = BCRC 23264), and the holotypes of these novel species are assigned as BCRC 23260, BCRC 23255 and BCRC 23264, respectively.