Candida batistae, a new yeast species associated with solitary digger nesting bees in Brazil

Abstract

Several strains of the new yeast species Candida batistae have been isolated from larval provisions, larvae, and pupae of the solitary bees Diadasina distincta and Ptilotrix plumata (Apidae) in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Candida batistae was the predominant species in the yeast community associated with this habitat, where it often co-occurred with a yeast form of Mucor sp. It is thought that these two organisms play a role in the maturation of beebread. The new asexual ascomycetous yeast is related to Starmerella bombicola and other floricolous Candida species, as evidenced by their nutritional profiles and the sequences of the D1/D2 domains of their large subunit ribosomal DNAs. Identification characteristics are similar to those of S. bombicola, but the species can be separated on the basis of some physiological characters and absence of mating with haploid strains of that species. The type culture is strain UFMG96-Y192 (CBS 8550).