Candida siamensis sp nov., an anamorphic yeast species in the Saturnispora clade isolated in Thailand

Three strains of a novel anamorphic yeast species were isolated from natural samples collected in Thailand, including strain EF10 isolated from sediment in a mangrove forest, strain ST-473 from rotten wood, and strain ST-479 from a wild mushroom (Hygrophorus sp.). Analysis of the D1/D2 domains of the large-subunit rRNA gene sequence revealed that the sequence of strain EF10 differed from the other two strains (ST-473 and ST-479), which had identical sequences, by only one nucleotide (nt) substitution in 535 nt. The closest species in terms of pairwise sequence similarity was Saturnispora mendoncae, with 32 nt substitutions and seven gaps in 535 nt. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the three strains form a cluster with S. mendoncae and the other eight species in the Saturnispora clade. Phenotypic characteristics of the three strains were the same including proliferation by multilateral budding, absence of ascospores and negative diazonium blue B and urease reactions. The major ubiquinone was Q-7. On this basis, the three strains were assigned to a single novel species of the genus Candida, for which the name Candida siamensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is EF10(T) (=BCC 29901(T)=NBRC 104878(T)=CBS 11022(T)).