INVESTIGADORES
LIBKIND FRATI Diego
artículos
Título:
Biogeography, host-specificity, and molecular phylogeny of Phaffia rhodozyma and its sexual form, Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous
Autor/es:
LIBKIND FRATI, D; RUFFINI A,; VAN BROOCK, M; ALVES, L; SAMPAIO, JP
Revista:
APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
Editorial:
American Society for Microbiology
Referencias:
Lugar: Washington; Año: 2007 vol. 73 p. 1120 - 1125
ISSN:
0099-2240
Resumen:
Phaffia rhodozyma (sexual form, Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous) is a basidiomycetous yeast that has been
found in tree exudates in the Northern Hemisphere at high altitudes and latitudes. This yeast produces
astaxanthin, a carotenoid pigment with biotechnological importance because it is used in aquaculture for fish
pigmentation. We isolated X. dendrorhous from the Southern Hemisphere (Patagonia, Argentina), where it was
associated with fruiting bodies of Cyttaria hariotii, an ascomycetous parasite of Nothofagus trees. We compared
internal transcribed spacer (ITS)-based phylogenies of P. rhodozyma and its tree host (Betulaceae, Corneaceae,
Fagaceae, and Nothofagaceae) and found them to be generally concordant, suggesting that different yeast
lineages colonize different trees and providing an explanation for the phylogenetic distance observed between
the type strains of P. rhodozyma and X. dendrorhous. We hypothesize that the association of Xanthophyllomyces
with Cyttaria derives from a previous association of the yeast with Nothofagus, and the sister relationship
between Nothofagaceae and Betulaceae plus Fagaceae correlates with the phylogeny of X. dendrorhous strains
originating from these three plant families. The two most basal strains of X. dendrorhous are those isolated from
Cornus, an ancestral genus in the phylogenetic analysis of the host trees. Thus, we question previous conclusions
that P. rhodozyma and X. dendrorhous represent different species since the polymorphisms detected in the
ITS and intergenic spacer sequences can be attributed to intraspecific variation associated with host specificity.
Our study provides a deeper understanding of Phaffia biogeography, ecology, and molecular phylogeny. Such
knowledge is essential for the comprehension of many aspects of the biology of this organism and will facilitate
the study of astaxanthin production within an evolutionary and ecological framework.