- Volume 66, Issue 10, 2016

Three strains of a novel species of ascomycetous yeast were isolated from the beetle species Anomala corpulenta (Scarabaeoidea) collected from the Baotianman and Funiu Mountains of China. These strains produced conjugated asci with a single coiled ascospore. Phylogenetic analysis of the combined sequences of the D1/D2 domains of the large subunit rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacer regions demonstrated that the three strains were closely related to Nematodospora valgi and an undescribed yeast strain, 13Y231. The novel strains could be differentiated from N. valgi CBS 12562T by a 1.6 % sequence divergence (9 substitutions) and from the undescribed yeast strain, 13Y231, by a 1.1 % sequence divergence (6 substitutions) in the D1/D2 sequences. The ITS sequences of these strains displayed more than 4.1 % sequence divergence (12–22 substitutions and 7–8 gaps) from their two closest relatives. Interestingly, all the three strains could ferment d-xylose to ethanol effectively, a rare property among members of the Lodderomyces clade. Therefore, a novel yeast species, Nematodospora anomalae sp. nov., is proposed to accommodate these strains. The type strain of N. anomalae sp. nov. is NYNU 14914T (=CICC 33059T=CBS 13927T). The MycoBank number is MB 816795.

The new version of Rule 8 of the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes as approved in Istanbul in 2008 has the clear advantage of establishing a uniform way to name classes of prokaryotes, similar to the way other higher taxa are named. However, retroactive implementation of the modified Rule is problematic as it destabilizes the nomenclature and requires the replacement of a large number of names of classes that have been validly published, which would be in violation of Principle 1 of the Code. Therefore, we call upon the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes and its Judicial Commission to reconsider the retroactivity of Rule 8.