Two new species of Kazachstania that form ascospores connected by a belt-like intersporal body: Kazachstania zonata and Kazachstania gamospora

Four strains of ascomycetous yeasts were isolated from samples collected at two locations in southern Japan. The strains formed two warty ascospores that were joined together by an intersporal body appearing as a belt. Phylogenetic analysis of rRNA gene nucleotide sequences indicated that the strains represented two new and closely related species of the genus Kazachstania . Isolates of one of the species were from Miyazaki Prefecture and those of the other species were from the Iriomote Islands. Genetic separation of the two species was further confirmed by DNA–DNA reassociation, which gave values of 63.3–78.1%, and from interspecific crosses, which gave nonviable ascospores. On the basis of these data, the isolates from Miyazaki Prefecture are described as Kazachstania zonata sp. nov. [type strain NBRC 100504=CBS 10326, mating types NBRC 101821 (+), NBRC 101822 (−)], and the isolates from the Iriomote Islands are described as Kazachstania gamospora sp. nov. [type strain NBRC 11056=CBS 10328, mating types NBRC 101825 (+), NBRC 101826 (−)].