Kluyveromyces aestuarii
Species of fungus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kluyveromyces aestuarii is a Kluyveromyces species of fungus occurring as a marine yeast. It was discovered in 1961 and was originally placed in the genus Saccharomyces.[1]
| Kluyveromyces aestuarii | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Saccharomycetes |
| Order: | Saccharomycetales |
| Family: | Saccharomycetaceae |
| Genus: | Kluyveromyces |
| Species: | K. aestuarii |
| Binomial name | |
| Kluyveromyces aestuarii (Fell) van der Walt, 1965 | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Taxonomy
Growth and morphology
Colonies of K. aestuarii have colorations ranging from white to deep ochre, due to the presence of the iron chelate pulcherrimin in the cells.[3] The cells are globose to ellipsoidal in shape when grown on Yeast-Mold (YM) agar, and range between roughly 2–6×3–7 μm in size. Pseudohyphae formation occurs after roughly two weeks of growth on corn meal agar.[3] K. aestuarii is not particularly thermotolerant, and cannot grow at or above 37 °C.[1][3] It has the ability to ferment glucose, as well as sucrose and raffinose, but cannot ferment galactose, lactose, or maltose.[1]
Ecology
Kluyveromyces aestuarii is a marine fungus. It was first isolated from shallow estuarine sediment in Biscayne Bay, off the coast of Florida.[1] It has also been discovered in the Torres Strait of Australia,[4] as well as in a mangrove forest near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where it was isolated from a shipworm (Neoteredo reynei), a clam (Tagelus plebius), and two crab species (Sesarma rectum and Uca spp.).[5] K. aestuarii has been identified as a possible indicator organism for environmental pollution of mangrove forests.[6]