A new putative Zygosaccharomyces yeast species isolated from traditional balsamic vinegar

Abstract The taxonomic status and species number of the genus Zygosaccharomyces have rapidly changed in the last years. In this study, two new osmotolerant Zygosaccharomyces strains isolated from traditional balsamic vinegar, viz. ABT301 and ABT601, were investigated to elucidate their taxonomic relationships with Zygosaccharomyces rouxii species. A multi‐gene sequence approach was employed, including regions of the rDNA repeat [5.8S, two internal transcribed spacers (ITS) and the 26S D1/D2 domain], COX2 mitochondrial gene and two nuclear genes ( SOD2 and HIS3 ). Cloning and sequence analysis of 5.8S‐ITS rDNA revealed that these strains bear an unusual polymorphism for this region. Three highly divergent 5.8S‐ITS sequences were detected, one identical to Z. rouxii , the other two showing some relatedness to Z. mellis . Sequence and gene number polymorphism was also observed for the protein‐encoding nuclear genes SOD2 and HIS3 , as two copies for each gene different from those found in Z. rouxii were detected. Analysis of the D1/D2 26S domain showed that ABT301 and ABT601 have only one type of D1/D2 sequence statistically different from that of Z. rouxii . The findings obtained in this work suggest that the genomic background of strains ABT301 and ABT601 is different from the other Zygosaccharomyces species. We speculated that they could belong to a new putative species related to Z. rouxii . Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.