Catching speciation in the act: Metschnikowia bowlesiae sp. nov., a yeast species found in nitidulid beetles of Hawaii and Belize

Abstract

We describe the species Metschnikowia bowlesiae sp. nov. based on the recovery of six isolates from Hawaii and Belize. The species belongs to the Metschnikowia arizonensis subclade of the large-spored Metschnikowia clade. The isolates are haploid and heterothallic. Both Hawaiian strains had the mating type h(+) and the Belizean strains were h(-). Paraphyletic species structures observed in some ribosomal DNA sequence analyses suggest that M. bowlesiae sp. nov. might represent an intermediate stage in a succession of peripatric speciation events from Metschnikowia dekortorum to Metschnikowia similis and might even hybridize with these species. The type of M. bowlesiae sp. nov. is strain UWOPS 04-243x5 (CBS 12940(T), NRRL Y-63671) and the allotype is strain UWOPS 12-619.1 (CBS 12939(A), NRRL Y-63670).