Scheffersomyces stipitis is a species of budding yeast
that is capable of fermenting xylose into ethanol (1). This
metabolic ability is desirable for biofuel production, since xylose
is a common sugar in lignocellulose, and very few yeast species are
capable of fermenting xylose. Although it was long-referred to as
Pichia stipitis, the species was reclassified as an
original founding member of the genus Scheffersomyces (2).
This strain has been compared with another previously sequenced
strain for its ability to ferment xylose, with minimal performance
differences found between the strains (3). More information about
Scheffersomyces (formerly Pichia)
stipitis can be found here.
References
1. Toivola A, Yarrow D, van den Bosch E, van Dijken JP, Scheffers
WA. (1984). Alcoholic fermentation of D-Xylose by yeasts. Appl.
Enivron. Microbiol. 47(6):1221-1223.
2. Kurtzman CP, Suzuki M. (2010). Phylogenetic analysis of
ascomycete yeasts that form coenzyme Q-9 and the proposal of the
new genera Babjeviella, Meyerozyma,
Millerozyma, Priceomyces, and
Scheffersomyces. Mycoscience. 51(1):2-14.
3. Krahulec S, Kratzer R, Longus K, Nidetzky B. (2012). Comparison
of Scheffersomyces stipitis strains CBS 5773 and CBS 6054
with regard to their xylose metabolism: implications for xylose
fermentation. MicrobiologyOpen. 1(2):64-70.
