Chrysozyma moheensis sp. nov., a novel psychrotolerant yeast isolated from the extremely cold region of China

Three yeast isolates representing a novel psychrotolerant yeast species were recovered from soil collected in Mohe City, Heilongjiang Province, PR China. The phylogenetic analyses based on the D1/D2 domains of the LSU rRNA and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region showed that the new yeast formed a well-supported clade closely related to Chrysozyma sorbariae CGMCC 2.2768 T . However, the new isolate differed from C. sorbariae CGMCC 2.2768 T by 8.15% sequence divergence (30 nt differences and 23 gaps out of 650 bp) in the ITS region and by 2.16% sequence divergence (9 substitutions and 4 indels over 603 bp) in the D1/D2 domain, respectively. In contrast to C. sorbariae , the novel yeast species was able to assimilate soluble starch, d -xylose, d -ribose, glycerol, succinate, myo-inositol and ethylamine hydrochloride but was unable to assimilate maltose, melezitose, inulin, d -mannitol, d -glucitol, ammonium sulphate and potassium nitrate. On the basis of these findings, the name Chrysozyma moheensis sp. nov. is proposed to accommodate strains 15A5, 13A5 and 13A6, with CCTCC AF 2021079 T (MycoBank no.: MB842231) designated as the holotype.