Whole-cell Protein Patterns, DNA Base Compositions and Coenzyme Q Types in the Yeast Genus Cryptococcus Kützing and Related Taxa

Abstract

A numerical analysis was performed on one-dimensional whole-cell protein electrophoretic fingerprints of 90 strains belonging to the basidiomycetous anamorphic genus Cryptococcus and presumably related taxa in the genera Filobasidium and Tremella . A significant protein electrophoretic heterogeneity was observed within the species Cryptococcus albidus , C. humicola , C. laurentii and C. luteolus . This heterogeneity in protein profiles was confirmed by considerable variations in DNA base composition. A high similarity in protein profiles was confirmed by identical DNA base compositions and coenzyme Q types for some strains of C. albidus var. albidus and the strains studied of C. kuetzingii . Synonymy was also suggested for the type strain of C. elinovii and the strains studied of C. teneus . A close relatedness was demonstrated for one strain of C. luteolus and two strains of C. laurentii . Strains of Filobasidium floriforme and Cryptococcus ater , showing highly similar protein patterns, were characterized by an analogous range of mol% G+C content and an identical ubiquinone type. For the reference strains studied of the genus Tremella the data suggest close relationships between respectively Tremella coalescens and T. mesenterica , T. fuciformis and T. samoensis , and T. encephala and T. subanomala . There were no indications for a close phylogenetic relatedness between species of the genera Tremella and Cryptococcus .