Meredithblackwellia eburnea Toome & Aime is a newly
described white Pucciniomycotina (Basidiomycota) yeast species that
was isolated from a fern leaf in a Neotropical rainforest in
Guyana. To date, ATCC MYA-4884 is the only known strain of this
species and genus. Meredithblackwellia eburnea is a
non-fermenting yeast that forms creamy white colonies in
culture. Cells bud from the poles forming characteristic
rosette-like clusters. No sexual state is known for this fungus.
Meredithblackwellia eburnea belongs to Microbotryomycetes
(Kriegeriales, Kriegeriaceae), along with many other
plant-associated fungi, but is to date the only member of
Kriegeriales known from the tropics; other fungi in this order were
isolated from either psychrophilic environments (e.g. ice,
glaciers, Antarctic sea) or from plant surfaces in temperate zones.
Genomic data produced for this project will represent the first
available for a member of Kriegeriales. Researchers will use
these data in phylogenetic and phylogenomic reconstructions and in
comparative genomics studies that seek to elucidate the molecular
bases governing the production of yeast states and the evolution of
pathogenicity in Pucciniomycotina.
If you would like to use this genome in your research,
please contact Dr. M. Catherine Aime ([email protected]) and Dr.
Igor Grigoriev ([email protected]) for permission.
References:
Toome M, Roberson RW, Aime MC. 2013. Meredithblackwellia eburnea
gen. et sp. nov., Kriegeriaceae fam. nov. and Kriegeriales ord.
nov. – toward resolving higher-level classification in
Microbotryomycetes. Mycologia 105: 486–495.
