A new psychrophilic yeast of Kriegeriaceae (Kriegeriales) isolated from lichen in the Arctic, with the description of Lichenia svalbardensis gen. et sp. nov.

By

Bai, Yukun
Tang, Zeyu
Peng, Xiaoya
Huang, Jun
Sun, Mingjing
Liu, Jia
Peng, Fang

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025

Original Publication

MycoKeys

Volume

114

Pages

95--113

Subjects

Kriegeriales , lichen , Phylogeny , psychrophilic yeast , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers 2011-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.114.135299

 

Abstract

Yeasts are an important component of the microbiome in circumpolar regions that are characterized by unique environmental conditions. However, the taxonomy of yeasts remains largely unknown in high- and low-latitude regions. Curing a field survey of yeasts in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, a new yeast genus in Kriegeriales was isolated from dendritic lichens. Based on the phylogeny of multiple loci (ITS, LSU, SSU, rpb1, rpb2, tef1-α, and cytb), morphology, and physiological characteristics, the new genus Lichenia is proposed with the type species Lichenia svalbardensis. Additionally, 10 °C and 15 °C are the fastest growth temperatures of L. svalbardensis. It has low or no growth at temperatures above 20 °C, and there appears to be a morphogenetic transition from yeast to pseudohyphae or hyphae above 10 °C.