Yeasts in mixed deciduous forest areas of Phujong Nayoy National Park and their ability to produce xylanase and carboxymethyl cellulase.

A total of 61 yeast strains were obtained from 132 samples collected from various sources such as soil, mushroom, flowers, fruits, tree barks and insect frass in the mixed deciduous forest areas of Phujong Nayoy National Park, Thailand. Based on D1/D2 region at the 5' end of the large subunit ribosomal RNA gene (rRNA gene region D1/D2) analysis, 39 strains were identified as ascomycetous yeasts and distributed to 7 genera i.e. Blastobotrys, Candida, Debaryomyces, Dipodascus, Kodamaea, Pichia and Torulaspora. Twenty strains were identified as basidiomycetous yeasts which belonged to the genera Asterotremella, Cryptococcus, Sporidiobolus and Trichosporon. Another two strains of yeast-like fungi were belonged to genus Aureobasidium. The predominant genus was Candida with a 31.14% contribution. For testing of xylanase and carboxymethyl cellulase production of the 61 strains of yeasts and yeast-like fungi, Candida glabrata and Aureobasidium pullulans showed xylanase activity of 0.91 and 0.52 UmL-1, respectively, and carboxymethyl cellulase activity of 0.38 and 0.44 UmL-1, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]