Torulaspora kanakia M. Silva, F. Paraíso, A. Pontes, P. Gonçalves, F. Carriconde & J.P. Sampaio, 2025

Torulaspora kanakia M. Silva, F. Paraíso, A. Pontes, P. Gonçalves, F. Carriconde & J.P. Sampaio , sp. nov. MB 853861 View Materials . Fig. 4M–O View Fig .

Etymology: Torulaspora kanakia . ka.na’ki.a, N.L. app. n. kanakia, pertaining to Kanak, the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia, the island where the new species was found.

Typus: New Caledonia, Mont Kogis, forest soil, 2014, J.P. Sampaio (holotype PYCC 8417 View Materials H, ex-holotype cultures PYCC 8417 View Materials , CBS 18511 View Materials ). The holotype is permanently maintained in a metabolically inactive state in the Portuguese Yeast Culture Collection, Caparica, Portugal. The genome of this species was deposited at DDBJ /ENA/GenBank under the accession GCA_931302125. The version described in this paper is version one .

Description: After 1 wk on YM agar at 25 °C, cultures are smooth, cream-coloured, and butyrous. After 3 d of growth on YM agar at 25 °C, cells are globose (4–5.5 µm) to sub-globose (4–6 × 3–5 µm) and occur singly or in pairs, and proliferation is by multilateral budding ( Fig. 4M View Fig ). On Dalmau plates after 2 wk at 25 °C, no pseudohyphae nor true hyphae are formed. Sexual reproduction is observed on acetate agar after 7 d at 20 °C, and the cultures appear to be homothallic. Cellular extensions that resemble conjugation tubes are conspicuous and exceptionally long, reaching 8 µm ( Fig. 4N View Fig ). Asci are persistent and normally are formed after conjugation involving a cell and its bud. Asci produce one to two smooth and spherical ascospores, measuring 2.5–3.5 µm diam. ( Fig. 4O View Fig ). The physiological and biochemical profile of the species in shown in Table 1 and Table S5.

Habitat and distribution: This species was found in forest soil in New Caledonia.

Additional cultures examined: PYCC 9027, PYCC 8418, PYCC 9025, PYCC 9026 (see Table S1 for details).