Torulaspora pahokee M. Silva, F. Paraiso, M. Groenewald, J. W. Fell & J. P. Sampaio 2025

Torulaspora pahokee M. Silva, F. Paraíso, M. Groenewald, J.W. Fell & J.P. Sampaio, sp. nov. MB 853985. Fig. 4Y–Z. Etymology: Torulaspora pahokee. pa.ho’kee, NL. app. n. pahokee, referring to Pahokee, meaning “Grassy Water”, the name given to the Everglades by the Seminole, a Native American tribe that inhabits Florida. Typus: USA, Florida, Everglades, sea water, 1996, J. Fell (holotype PYCC 9316H, ex-holotype cultures PYCC 9316, CBS 11100). The holotype is permanently maintained in a metabolically inactive state in the Portuguese Yeast Culture Collection, Caparica, Portugal. The genome of this species was deposited at DDBJ/ENA/GenBank under the accession GCA_012851095. The version described in this paper is v. 1. Description: After 1 wk on YM agar at 25 °C, cultures are smooth, cream-coloured, and butyrous. After 3 d of growth on YM agar at 25 °C, cells are globose (3–5 µm) to sub-globose (4–5 × 2–3 µm) and occur singly or in pairs, and proliferation is by multilateral budding (Fig. 4Y). On Dalmau plates after 2 wk at 25 °C, no pseudohyphae nor true hyphae are formed. Sexual reproduction is observed on acetate agar after 10 d at 17 °C, and the studied strains appear to be homothallic. Asci are persistent and are formed after cell-to-cell conjugation involving either a cell and its bud or two independent cells. Asci produce one to two smooth and spherical ascospores, measuring 2.5–3 µm diam. (Fig. 4Z). Typical Torulaspora cellular extensions that resemble conjugation tubes are frequent but not involved in conjugation. The physiological and biochemical profile of the species in shown in Table 1 and Table S5. Habitat and distribution: This species was found in sea water, Everglades, Florida, USA Additional cultures examined: CBS 11121, CBS 11123, CBS 11124 (see Table S1 for details).