THE USE OF KARYOTYPING IN THE SYSTEMATICS OF YEASTS

The use of electrophoretic karyotyping in systematics of yeasts is dis cussed. New data are provided on the karyotypes of the medically impor tant fungi Hortaea werneckii, Filobasidiella (= Cryptococcus) neoforma ns, and Malassezia species. Hortaea wemeckii has twelve to eighteen ba nds of chromosomal DNA, ranging in size between 500 and 2300 kb. The k aryotypes of Filobasidiella neoformans consist of seven to fourteen ba nds of chromosomal DNA. The varieties neoformans and bacillispora cann ot be separated by their karyotypes, and no obvious correlation was fo und with serotypes, geography or habitat. All strains of Malassezia pa chydermatis studied have similar karyotypes consisting of five bands, whereas in M. furfur, four different karyotypes are prevalent. However , each of these karyotypes is stable.