In the course of a taxonomic study of methanol-assimilating yeasts, a number
of isolates were obtained from various natural habitats in Japan, and from these
three new species, Pichia cellobiosa, Candida cariosilignicola, and Candida
succiphila, have been described. P. cellobiosa differs from the related species
Pichia castiZlae with respect to fermentation and assimilation of sugars, biotin
requirement for growth, and lower maximum temperature for growth. C. cariosilignicola
differs from the related species Torulopsis apicola and Torulopsis
bombicola with respect to assimilation of sugars and proton magnetic resonance
spectra of cell wall mannans. C. succiphila is similar to C. cariosilignicola but
differs from it with respect to fermentation and assimilation of sugars, lower
maximum temperature for growth, higher deoxyribonucleic acid base composition,
and proton magnetic resonance spectra of cell wall mannans. The type
strains of these new species are KL 1 (=IAM 12481), KL 24 (=IAM 12484), and
KL 30 (=IAM 12489), respectively. Cultures of the type strains have been
deposited in the Institute of Applied Microbiology Culture Collection Center,
University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, and the InsetUte for Fermentation, Osaka,
Japan.