Cryptococcus lupi sp. nov., an Antarctic Basidioblastomycete

Cryptococcus lupi sp. nov. was isolated from soil samples from the Dry Valleys of South Victoria Land, Antarctica. The guanine-plus-cytosine content (53.3 mol%) of C. lupi deoxyribonucleic acid differs by more than 1.5 mol% from the guanine-plus-cytosine contents of biotypes originally described under the name Cryptococcus vishniacii. The type strain of C. lupi (MYSW 202Y252 = ATCC 44529) differs phenotypically from the type strain of C. vishniacii in that it assimilates cellobiose, methyl-α-D-glucoside, and salicin and fails to assimilate γ-amino butyric acid, gluconate, 2-ketogluconate, 5-ketogluconate, L-rhamnose, and succinate; it also differs by having a higher maximum growth temperature and in its cell size and ratio of cell width to length.