Occurrence and Diversity of Yeast Associated with Fruits and Leaves of Two Native Plants from Brazilian Neotropical Savanna

Background: This work studied the occurrence, density, and diversity of yeast species associated with the leaves and fruits of Sabicea brasiliensis and Anacardium humile. Methods: Fragments of leaves and fruits were subjected to maceration and placed under agitation in peptone water. One hundred µL aliquots of each of the decimal dilutions were plated on YM chloramphenicol agar medium. The different morphotypes were identified through sequence analysis of the 26S rDNA. Results: A total of 83 yeast isolates were recovered from the organs sampled, 40 from fruits and 19 from the leaves of S. brasiliensis, while 14 were recovered from fruits and 10 from the leaves of A. humile. The isolates were identified as belonging to two phyla, six classes, eight orders, and eight families. Most isolates, at 71 (84.3%), belong to Ascomycota, with Saccharomycetes dominant in fruits and Dothideomycetes in leaves. The remaining 12 (15.7%) isolates belong to the phylum Basidiomycota. The most frequent genera were Aureobasidium, Candida, Rhodotorula, and Wickerhamiella. The Wickerhamiella isolates made possible the subsequent description of a new species within this genus. Conclusions: Our data reveal the yeast species that inhabit different Cerrado plant organs and indicate that these hosts can be considered an important habitat for yeast diversity, including new and/or previously unreported species in this biome.