Pichia kurtzmaniana f.a. sp. nov., with the transfer of eight Candida species to Pichia

Three yeast strains belonging to the ascomycetous yeast genus were isolated from two soil samples from Yunnan and Guizhou provinces and a marine water sample from Liaoning province, PR China. Phylogenetic analyses based on the sequences of the D1/D2 domains of the large subunit(LSU) rRNA gene and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region indicate that these three strains, together with 12 additional strains isolated from various substrates collected in different regions or countries of the world, represent a novel species of the genus , for which the name sp. nov. (holotype: strain CGMCC 2.7213) is proposed. The novel species differs from its close relatives by eight (1.5 %) and 26 (11.1 %) mismatches in the D1/D2 domains and the ITS region, respectively; and from by 11 (2.1 %) and 20 (8.7 %) mismatches in the D1/D2 domains and the ITS region, respectively. In addition, eight species which belong to the clade are transferred to the genus , resulting in the proposal of the following new combinations: comb. nov., comb. nov., comb. nov., comb. nov., comb. nov., comb. nov., comb. nov., and comb. nov.