(a.ta.ca.men’sis, NL. fem. Adj. atacamensis, pertaining
to the Atacama Desert biome)
Isolates ATA-11A-B, ATA-12C-B, and ATA-13E-S displayed morphological
characteristics consistent with those commonly observed in species of
the genus Nakazawaea. After 3 days on YM agar at 25 ºC colonies
are small, convex, grayish-white, and have an entire margin. Cells are
ellipsoidal to elongate (1.1 - 3.1 x 2.1 – 4.5 µm) and occur singly or
in mother-bud pairs (Figure 2 ). Budding is multilateral, though
predominantly polar. In Dalmau plates after 14 days on corn meal agar,
pseudohyphae and true hyphae were not observed. No ascospores or signs
of conjugation were not seen on sporulation media. Fermentation of
glucose, fructose and galactose is positive, while maltose, trehalose
and sucrose are negative (Table S2 ). The species utilizes
D-glucose, sucrose, D-galactose, α-trehalose, maltose, melezitose,
cellobiose, salicin, L-rhamnose, D-xylose, L-arabinose, D-arabinose
(w/s), D-ribose, ethanol, glycerol, erythritol (slow), ribitol,
D-mannitol, D-glucitol, succinate, citrate, D-gluconate (slow), xylitol
(slow), ethyl acetate (w/s) and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine as carbon
sources. No growth occurs on inulin, raffinose, melibiose, lactose,
soluble starch, L-sorbose, methanol, galactitol, myo-inositol,
DL-lactate, D-glucosamine, hexadecane, acetone and 2-propanol. Lysine is
utilized as sole nitrogen source but not nitrate and nitrite. Growth in
amino-acid-free medium is positive. Growth at 10, 20, and 35°C is
positive. Growth on YPD agar with 10 % sodium chloride and growth on 50
% glucose/yeast extract (0.5 %) are negative. Acid production is
positive (slow). Starch-like compounds are absent. Growth in the
presence of 0.01% cycloheximide is positive. Diazonium blue B color and
urease reactions are negative. The holotype of Nakazawaea
atacamensis , strain CBS 18375T, is preserved in a
metabolically inactive state at the CBS Yeast Collection of the
Westerdijk Fungal Diversity Institute in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Additionally, an isotype of N. atacamensis has been deposited as
strain RGM 3383 in the Chilean Culture Collection of Microbial Genetic
Resources (CChRGM) at the Agricultural Research Institute (INIA) in
Chile. The Mycobank number is MB 849680. Furthermore, 35 paratypes ofN. atacamensis were isolated and are maintained in a
metabolically inactive state at the Universidad de Santiago de Chile.