Taxonomic revision of Geotrichum and Magnusiomyces, with the descriptions of five new Geotrichum species from China

Abstract

The arthroconidial yeast-like species currently classified in the asexual genera Geotrichum and Saprochaete and the sexual genera Dipodascus, Galactomyces and Magnusiomyces are frequently associated with dairy and cosmetics production, fruit rot and human infection. However, the taxonomic system of these fungi has not been updated to accommodate the new nomenclature code adopting the “one fungus, one name” principle. Here, we performed phylogenetic analyses of these yeast-like species based on the sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and the D1/D2 domain of the large subunit of the rRNA gene. Two monophyletic groups were recognised from these species. One group contained Dipodascus, Galactomyces, and Geotrichum species and the other Magnusiomyces and Saprochaete species. We thus assigned the species in each group into one genus and selected the genus name Geotrichum for the first group and Magnusiomyces for the second one based on the principle of priority of publication. Five new Geotrichum species were identified from arthroconidial yeast strains recently isolated from various sources in China. The new species are described as Ge. dehoogii sp. nov., Ge. fujianense sp. nov., Ge. maricola sp. nov., Ge. smithiae sp. nov., and Ge. sinensis sp. nov.