%0 Journal Article %A Phaff, Herman J. %A Starmer, William T. %A Tredick, Joanne %A Miranda, Mary %T Pichia deserticola and Candida deserticola, Two New Species of Yeasts Associated with Necrotic Stems of Cacti %D 1985 %J International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, %V 35 %N 2 %P 211-216 %@ 1466-5034 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/00207713-35-2-211 %I Microbiology Society, %X We describe Pichia deserticola and Candida deserticola, two species that have as their habitats necrotic tissues of Opuntia spp. and Stenocereus spp., respectively. Pichia deserticola, 21 strains of which were isolated, is homothallic and occurs in nature exclusively in the diploid state. It produces asci with two hat-shaped spores, which are rapidly released upon maturity. This species is nonfermentative and assimilates few carbon compounds. The guanine-plus-cytosine content range of the nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid (eight strains) is 27.4 to 28.4 mol%, and the average ± standard deviation for eight strains is 27.8 ± 0.4 mol%. Candida deserticola, 48 strains of which were isolated, has the same phenotypic properties and deoxyribonucleic acid base composition as P. deserticola, but lacks the ability to produce ascospores and is resistant to triterpene glycosides in growth media. The deoxyribonucleic acids of P. deserticola and C. deserticola show more than 96% homology, but the two species are separated geographically and by host plant. P. deserticola occurs in Opuntia species in southern Arizona and Texas, whereas C. deserticola is found almost exclusively in columnar cacti of the genus Stenocereus on certain Caribbean islands and in Baja California, Mexico. The type strain of P. deserticola is strain UCD-FST 83-467.3 (= ATCC 58091 = CBS 7119), and the type strain of C. deserticola is strain UCD-FST 76-355A (= ATCC 58088 = CBS 7121). %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/ijsem/10.1099/00207713-35-2-211