YEASTS ASSOCIATED WITH FLOWERS AND FRUITS FROM A SEMIARID REGION OF NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL

Yeast species on flowers and fruits from 4 trees (cashew, Anacardium o ccidentalis; caja, Spondia lutea; urnbu, Spondia sp.; and mango, Mangi fera indica) of the Northeastern region of Brazil were studied in fiel d and market samples. Vigorous shaking removed most yeasts from fruit surfaces, and blending suspended and disaggregated the more firmly att ached ones. Ripe fruits were dissected asseptically to separate the su rface and internal communities. Isolations were made on Glucose-Yeast Extract-Peptone medium and Vitamin Free Yeast Base, both adjusted to p H 3.7 and containing 200 mg/l of chloramphenicol. The yeast communitie s of flowers and green fruits were dominated by basidiomycetous anamor phs (especially Cryptococcus laurentii). and black yeasts, but there w as a sucession on ripe fruits to a community dominated by diverse asco mycctous species and their anamorphs. Metschnikowia pulcherrima was fr equently isolated from cashew flowers and associated bees and a Candid a entomaea -like species was prevalent on Caja fruits in the field. Th e ascomycetous yeast community of ripe fruits consisted preferentially of fermentative species with low physiological profiles, including Is satchenkia orientalis and Kloeckera javanica as frequent isolates. A s equence of samples from different stages of flowering and fructificati on, vigorous pre-isolation treatments and different isolation media sh ould be used to obtain an adequate description of these yeast communit ies.