Open AccessWickerhamiella shivajii sp. nov., a thermotolerant yeast isolated from distillery effluent
Author(s) -
Rameshwar Avchar,
Marizeth Groenewald,
Abhishek Baghela
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
international journal of systematic and evolutionary microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.925
H-Index - 173
eISSN - 1466-5034
pISSN - 1466-5026
DOI - 10.1099/ijsem.0.003616
Subject(s) - biology , yeast , phylogenetic tree , ribosomal rna , genus , phylogenetics , botany , yeast extract , gene , fermentation , food science , genetics
Ethanol production at high temperatures has garnered much interest in recent years and a key factor is the availability of thermotolerant yeasts. During an investigation on the diversity of thermotolerant yeasts from different habitats, a novel yeast species from the spent wash of a distillery unit associated with a sugar factory was isolated. Phylogenetic analysis of D1/D2 large subunit and ITS rRNA genes placed this species in the ascomycetous genus Wickerhamiella . The novel species can be distinguished from the closely related species Wickerhamiella pararugosa using these rRNA gene regions. The cells of the new species are ovoid to ellipsoid with a diameter of 3.5-6.0×2.4-3.10 µm, while W. pararugosa cells are cylindrical with a cell diameter of 1.5-3.0×6-23 µm. This novel species represents, together with Wickerhamiella cacticola , one of the two most thermotolerant yeast species in the genus Wickerhamiella , able to grow at 42 °C . Wickerhamiella shivajii sp. nov. is proposed during this study.