Open AccessMolecular‐genetic differentiation of the dairy yeast Kluyveromyces lactis and its closest wild relatives
Author(s) -
Naumova Elena S.,
Sukhotitaliya N.,
Naumov Gennadi I.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
fems yeast research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.991
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1567-1364
pISSN - 1567-1356
DOI - 10.1016/j.femsyr.2004.08.006
Subject(s) - biology , kluyveromyces lactis , internal transcribed spacer , kluyveromyces , genetics , intergenic region , ribosomal rna , gene , evolutionary biology , saccharomyces cerevisiae , genome
The currently accepted formal division of the species Kluyveromyces lactis into two taxonomic varieties, Kl. lactis var. lactis and Kl. lactis var. drosophilarum , is based arbitrarily on phenotypic and ecological characters. On the other hand, the genetic hybridisation analysis and molecular karyotyping of its synonyms allowed us [FEMS Yeast Res. 2 (2002) 39] to reinstate them in the genus Zygofabospora Kudriavzev emend G. Naumov (= Kluyveromyces Kurtzman et al., 2001) as the varieties Zf. lactis var. lactis , Zf. lactis var. krassilnikovii , Zf. lactis var. drosophilarum , Zf. lactis var. phaseolospora and Zf. lactis var. vanudenii . In the present work, we studied forty Kl. lactis strains of different geographic and ecological origins by means of restriction analysis of the PCR‐amplified non‐coding nrDNA regions encompassing the intergenic spacer 2 (IGS2) and the internal transcribed spacers (ITS1 and ITS2). The results confirmed the complex structure of Kl. lactis . Moreover, four additional genetic populations were identified: three in North America (‘aquatic’, ‘pseudovanudenii’ and ‘new’) and one in Far‐East Asia (‘oriental’). Comparative sequence analysis of the 5.8S‐rRNA gene and the two internal transcribed spacers revealed that the populations ‘aquatic’ and ‘oriental’ formed distinct taxa which are phylogenetically separate from the five known populations. However, some discrepancies were observed between the restriction and sequencing data. Genetic hybridisation analysis needs to be done to further elucidate the genetic relationships between the populations of Kl. lactis .