Wickerhamiella brachini f.a., sp. nov., Wickerhamiella pterostichi f.a., sp. nov. and Wickerhamiella qilinensis f.a., sp. nov., three yeast species isolated from insects

Eight strains representing three novel yeast species were isolated from insects distributed in three localities in Nanyang, Henan Province, Central China during 2014 and 2015. Sequence analysis of the D1/D2 domains of the large subunit (LSU) rRNA gene revealed that these species are members of the Wickerhamiella clade. These three novel species have a greater than 2.5 % difference from each other or their closest known species in the D1/D2 sequences. The three yeast species can also be separated from their closest known species in terms of physiological characteristics. Moreover, a sexual state could not be found in these three novel yeast species on various sporulation media. Therefore, the three novel species are described as Wickerhamiella brachini f.a., sp. nov. (type strain, NYNU 15885T=CICC 33092T=CBS 14176T), Wickerhamiellapterostichi f.a., sp. nov. (type strain, NYNU 15896T=CICC 33093T=CBS 14177T) and Wickerhamiellaqilinensis f.a., sp. nov. (type strain, NYNU 146103T=CICC 33062T=CBS 13929T). The MycoBank numbers of Wickerhamiella brachini f.a., sp. nov., Wickerhamiellapterostichi f.a., sp. nov. and Wickerhamiellaqilinensis f.a., sp. nov. are MB 816962, MB 816963 and MB 816964, respectively.