Contrasting Strategies for Sucrose Utilization in a Floral Yeast Clade (original) (raw)
Related papers
Yeast, 2020
The Wickerhamiella and Starmerella genera form a clade (W/S clade) that branches close to Yarrowia lipolytica in the Saccharomycotina species tree. It comprises approximately 90 recognized species and 50 putative new species not formally described yet. The large majority of the members of the W/S clade are ecologically associated with flowers and floricolous insects. Many species exhibit unusual metabolic traits, like fructophily and the production of sophorolipids, which are glycolipids that can be used as environmentally friendly biosurfactants. Genomic data have not only firmly established the W/S clade but have also revealed a tumultuous evolution of metabolism marked by losses and gains of important metabolic pathways, among which alcoholic fermentation. Possibly the most surprising finding brought to light by comparative genomics concerned the large number of genes acquired by some species of the W/S clade from bacteria through horizontal gene transfer, many of which were shown to be functional in their new setting. This was facilitated by the genetic tractability of one species in the clade, Starmerella bombicola, which is used for the industrial production of sophorolipids. We suggest that high-density This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. coverage of genome sequencing in this clade, combined with the possibility to conduct molecular genetics experiments in at least one species has the potential to set the stage for yet more exciting discoveries concerning the evolution of yeast metabolism.
Chapter 14. Sweetness, Power, Yeasts and Entomo-terroir
Berghahn Books, 2022
Yeasts are single-celled fungi. Th ey are essential components of the modern world, ours and theirs, and yet their stories are hidden. Th eir consequences often take centre stage, but they themselves are rarely featured, whether in history, art, or even science. Th is absence has taken on new importance as it is realized that some yeast species may have begun to go extinct. Th ese yeasts are threatened, of all things, by the declines in insect populations and, of course, indirectly and directly, by us. But this is the end of the storylet us start a little earlier. Before In the beginning, before humans evolved, before farms were planted, yeasts lived quiet lives immersed in the small patches of sweet things that can be found in nature-the nectar in the cups of fl owers, the sap that leaks from oak trees, the honeydew that pours from aphids and scale insects, the fl ecks of sugar on oak leaves. In each of these bits of sweetness, the yeast consumed sugars. As waste, they exhaled carbon dioxide and excreted alcohol. Yeasts thrive on sugar. For most species, it is their ancient necessity. Yet, this necessity poses a challenge. Th e yeasts must fi nd the sugar in the fi rst place. Th ey must fi nd sugar even though they lack legs and wings, and even though, unlike bacteria, they do not readily become airborne. From the perspective of yeasts, all of the patches of sugar in the world, from Chapter 14
Starmerella syriaca f.a., sp. nov., an osmotolerant yeast species isolated from flowers in Syria
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 2015
Four strains of a novel asexual ascomycetous yeast species were isolated from Malva sp. flowers in Syria. Sequencing of the regions spanning the small subunit, 5.8S, and the D1/D2 domains of the large subunit ribosomal RNA genes showed that the isolates were conspecific. Comparative analysis of these sequences and the corresponding sequences of the type strains of ascomycetous yeasts revealed that the novel species is phylogenetically related to members of the Starmerella clade. Its closest relative is Candida vaccinii. For the new species the name Starmerella syriaca is proposed. Its strains are osmotolerant and produce pseudohypha-like structures capable of penetrating agar media. The type strain is 2-1362 T (=CBS 13909 T = NCAIM Y.02138 T = CCY 090-003-001 T). The GenBank accession numbers for its nucleotide sequences are: JX515986 (D1/ D2 LSU), JX515987 (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) and JX515988 (SSU). Mycobank: MB 810090.
The Journal of General and Applied Microbiology, 2013
Flower-visiting insects can infect the flower organs and the flower nectar with yeasts carried on their bodies or in their digestive tracts (e.g. Pozo et al., 2011; Sandhu and Waraich, 1985). The association of flowers and pollinating or non-pollinating insects feeding on pollen and nectar with yeasts has been demonstrated by numerous works over the past three decades (e.g.
Starmerella vitis f.a., sp. nov., a yeast species isolated from flowers and grapes
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 2020
A novel yeast species of Starmerella vitis f.a. sp. nov. is proposed to accommodate five strains isolated from flowers, grapes and an insect in the Azores, Canada, Hungary, Palau and Taiwan. As the strains were genetically distinct, we used parsimony network analysis based on ITS-D1/D2 sequences to delineate the species in a statistically objective manner. According to sequence comparisons and phylogenetic analysis, the novel species is most closely related to Starmerella lactis-condensi. The two species cannot be distinguished by conventional physiological tests. The type strain of Starmerella vitis f.a., sp. nov. is CBS 16418 T ; Mycobank number MB 835251.
International journal of systematic bacteriology, 1998
Five new yeast species, Wickerhamiella australiensis, Wickerhamiella cacticola, Wickerhamiella occidentalis, Candida drosophilae and Candida lipophila, are described to accommodate isolates recovered from flowers and floricolous insects of Australian Hibiscus trees, cosmopolitan morning glories (Ipomoea spp.) and Brazilian cereoid cacti. The new Wickerhamiella species are heterothallic, occur in the haploid condition and are clearly separated reproductively from one another. Although they exhibit little physiological variation, they are easily delineated from Wickerhamiella domercqiae, the only species known previously, by their resistance to cycloheximide and the production of strong extracellular lipases. C. drosophilae and C. lipophila share the latter property, but unlike the Wickerhamiella species, they fail to utilize nitrate as sole nitrogen source. PFGE indicates that these yeasts have an unusually low number of chromosomes. The large-subunit rDNA (D1/D2) sequences demonstra...
eLS, 2018
Yeasts are a group of eukaryotic microfungi with a well-defined cell wall whose growth is either entirely unicellular or a combination of hyphal and unicellular reproduction. The approximately 1500 known yeast species belong to two distinct fungal phyla, the Ascomycota and the Basidiomycota. Within each these phyla, yeasts can be found in several subphyla or classes, reflecting the enormous diversity of their evolutionary origins and biochemical properties. In nature, yeasts are found mainly in association with plants or animals but are also present in soil and aquatic environments. Yeasts grow rapidly and have simple nutritional requirements, for which reason they have been used as model systems in biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology. They were the first microorganisms to be domesticated for the production of beer, bread or wine, and they continue to be used for the benefit of humanity in the production of many important health care and industrial commodities, including recombinant proteins, biopharmaceuticals, biocontrol agents and biofuels. The best-known yeast is the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which may be regarded as the world's foremost industrial microbe.
Reconsideration of the role of yeasts associated with Chrysoperla green lacewings
Biological Control, 2005
As larvae, lacewings in the genus Chrysoperla (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae: Chrysopinae: Chrysopini) are predators of aphids and other soft-bodied insects. Adult Chrysoperla, however, are not predacious and feed on pollen, nectar, and honeydew. Earlier studies observed that Chrysoperla adults house yeasts in their crops, and based on the results of a sorbic acid yeast suppression experiment, concluded that the yeasts may supplement amino acids missing in the largely carbohydrate diet. In the current study, attempts to cure adult Chrysoperla comanche (Banks) and Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) of yeasts using Hagen et al.'s [Bull. Lab. Entomol. Agric. Fil Silv. 28 (1970) 113] protocol, as well as several other fungicides and heat treatment, were unsuccessful, thus calling into question earlier conclusions about the yeasts. Based on our Wndings, we suggest possible methods for producing yeast-free lacewings so that future studies might determine how yeasts contribute to lacewing Wtness. The earlier research also suggested that lacewings eclose without their yeast symbionts and must obtain them from the environment. Our data suggest that yeast may be transmitted vertically, from mother to oVspring.