Bensingtonia thailandica sp nov., a novel basidiomycetous yeast species isolated from plant leaves in Thailand

Ten strains which were characterized by the formation of ballistoconidia, t he absence of xylose in whole-cell hydrolysates, the presence of Q-9 as the major ubiquinone isoprenologue, the inability to ferment sugars and positi ve diazonium blue B and urease reactions were isolated from plant samples c ollected in Thailand. These isolates were closely related to Bensingtonia p hyllada based on the analysis of 18S rDNA sequences. On the basis of the mo rphological, physiological and chemotaxonomic properties, the 10 isolates w ere assigned to the genus Bensingtonia. DNA complementarity showed that the se isolates were genetically distinct from known species of the genus Bensi ngtonia. The isolates are described as Bensingtonia thailandica sp. nov. Th e type strain is strain TY-138(T) (= JCM 10651(T)).