Cyberlindnera qingyuanensis f.a., sp. nov., a yeast species isolated from rotting wood

Two yeast strains were isolated from rotting wood samples collected on Qingyuan Mountain, Fujian Province, PR China. Phylogenetic analysis, based on the concatenated sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and the D1/D2 domain of the large subunit rRNA gene, revealed that these two strains represent a novel species of the genus <i>Cyberlindnera</i>. The proposed name for this new species is <i>Cyberlindnera qingyuanensis</i> f.a., sp. nov. (holotype: GDMCC 2.300; ex-type: PYCC 9925) although the formation of ascospores was not observed. The novel species differs from its close relative <i>Cyberlindnera galapagoensis</i> by 7.7% sequence divergence (37 substitutions and seven indels) in the D1/D2 domain and 9.7% sequence divergence (42 substitutions and 34 indels) in the ITS region, respectively. Additionally, <i>Cyb. qingyuanensis</i> differs from its close relative <i>Cyb. galapagoensis</i> by its ability to grow in cellobiose, l-rhamnose, ribitol, galactitol, and dl-lactate, its growth at 37 °C, and its inability to ferment raffinose. The Mycobank number is MB 854693.