Da Vinci's yeast: Blastobotrys davincii f.a., sp. nov

Abstract

A new species of the yeast genus Blastobotrys was discovered during a worldwide survey of culturable xerophilic fungi in house dust. Several culture-dependent and independent studies from around the world detected the same species from a wide range of substrates including indoor air, cave wall paintings, bats, mummies, and the iconic self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci from ca 1512. However, none of these studies identified their strains, clones, or OTUs as Blastobotrys. We introduce the new species as Blastobotrys davincii f.a., sp. nov. (holotype CBS H-24879) and delineate it from other species using morphological, phylogenetic, and physiological characters. The new species of asexually (anamorphic) budding yeast is classified in Trichomonascaceae and forms a clade along with its associated sexual state genus Trichomonascus. Despite the decade-old requirement to use a single generic name for fungi, both names are still used. Selection of the preferred name awaits a formal nomenclatural proposal. We present arguments for adopting Blastobotrys over Trichomonascus and introduce four new combinations as Blastobotrys allociferrii (≡ Candida allociferrii), B. fungorum (≡ Sporothrix fungorum), B. mucifer (≡ Candida mucifera), and Blastobotrys vanleenenianus (≡ Trichomonascus vanleenenianus). We provide a nomenclatural review and an accepted species list for the 37 accepted species in the Blastobotrys/Trichomonascus clade. Finally, we discuss the identity of the DNA clones detected on the da Vinci portrait, and the importance of using appropriate media to isolate xerophilic or halophilic fungi.

Complete Genome Sequence of Candida mucifera from an Otitis Media Patient

“…The yeast species Candida mucifera (also referred to as Blastobotrys mucifer in a recent study [1]) falls within the Trichomonascus ciferrii species complex as per the latest NCBI taxonomy database (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=191334). This species complex is composed of ascomycetous heterothallic yeasts, formerly referred to as the Stephanoascus ciferrii complex, and currently comprises three species, namely Trichomonascus ciferrii, Candida allociferrii, and C. mucifera [2].…”

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We describe for the rst time, a high-quality genome for a rare human yeast pathogen Candida mucifera, from a patient with chronic suppurative otitis media. Antifungal susceptibility pro le was determined, and a potential mechanism responsible for intrinsically reduced azole susceptibility in Trichomonascus ciferrii-Candida mucifera species complex was proposed.

Full TextThe yeast species Candida mucifera (also referred to as Blastobotrys mucifer in a recent study [1]) falls within the Trichomonascus ciferrii species complex as per the latest NCBI taxonomy database (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=191334). This species complex is composed of ascomycetous heterothallic yeasts, formerly referred to as the Stephanoascus ciferrii complex, and currently comprises three species, namely Trichomonascus ciferrii, Candida allociferrii, and C. mucifera [2].

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TreeViewer: Flexible, modular software to visualise and manipulate phylogenetic trees

“…These are available in the online documentation (Bianchini, 2021b) and describe a large variety of different plots, some of which are shown in Figure 1. Plots created using TreeViewer have been included in recent publications (Anderegg et al., 2022; Beach et al., 2022; Gyimesi & Hediger, 2022; Iwata et al., 2023; Klau et al., 2022; Moreira et al., 2022; Naafs et al., 2021; Sánchez‐Baracaldo et al., 2022; Sasoni et al., 2022; Sobol et al., 2022; Visagie et al., 2023; Visagie & Yilmaz, 2023; Wu & Guo, 2022).…”