Taxonomic revision of <i>Geotrichum</i> and <i>Magnusiomyces</i> , with the descriptions of five new <i>Geotrichum</i> species from China

Abstract

The arthroconidial yeast-like species currently classified in the asexual genera <i>Geotrichum</i> and <i>Saprochaete</i> and the sexual genera <i>Dipodascus</i>, <i>Galactomyces</i> and <i>Magnusiomyces</i> 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 <i>Dipodascus</i>, <i>Galactomyces</i>, and <i>Geotrichum</i> species and the other <i>Magnusiomyces</i> and <i>Saprochaete</i> species. We thus assigned the species in each group into one genus and selected the genus name <i>Geotrichum</i> for the first group and <i>Magnusiomyces</i> for the second one based on the principle of priority of publication. Five new <i>Geotrichum</i> species were identified from arthroconidial yeast strains recently isolated from various sources in China. The new species are described as <i>Ge. dehoogii</i> sp. nov., <i>Ge. fujianense</i> sp. nov., <i>Ge. maricola</i> sp. nov., <i>Ge. smithiae</i> sp. nov., and <i>Ge. sinensis</i> sp. nov.