Rhodotorula psychrophila sp. nov., Rhodotorula psychrophenolica sp. nov. and Rhodotorula glacialis sp. nov., novel psychrophilic basidiomycetous yeast species isolated from alpine environments

Three novel psychrophilic species of the genus Rhodotorula are described. Rhodotorula psychrophila sp. nov. (type strain PB19T=CBS 10440T=DSM 18768T), Rhodotorula psychrophenolica sp. nov. (type strain AG21T=CBS 10438T=DSM 18767T) and Rhodotorula glacialis sp. nov. (type strain A19T=CBS 10436T=DSM 18766T) were isolated from soil collected from an alpine railway area, from mud in the thawing zone of a glacier foot and from glacier cryoconite, respectively. All three species have been assigned to the genus Rhodotorula on the basis of molecular sequence data and physiological and morphological properties. Rhodotorula psychrophila is not able to grow at temperatures above 15 °C. Rhodotorula psychrophenolica and Rhodotorula glacialis degrade high concentrations of phenol (up to 12.5 and 5 mM, respectively) as the sole carbon source at 10 °C. Sequence analyses of the 26S rDNA D1/D2 regions indicated that the novel species are phylogenetically related and belong to a clade that includes other psychrophilic yeasts.