Four yeast strains (TM1-01T
, TM1-07, TM3-47 and TM3-49) were isolated by membrane filtration
from estuarine water collected from a mangrove forest in Phang-Nga province, southern Thailand.
Analysis of the D1/D2 domains of the large-subunit rDNA sequence revealed that the
sequences of the four strains were identical. The closest recognized species in terms of pairwise
sequence similarity was Pichia deserticola, but the level of nucleotide substitution (4.8 %) was
sufficient to justify the description of a separate species. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that
the four strains occupy a basal position with respect to Pichia membranifaciens and close relatives.
The four strains showed identical phenotypic characteristics, including proliferation by multilateral
budding, absence of ascospores, arthrospores and ballistospores and negative reactions for
Diazonium blue B and urease. The major ubiquinone was Q-7. On the basis of the above findings,
these four strains were assigned to a single novel species of the genus Candida, for which the name
Candida thaimueangensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is TM1-01T (=CBS 10360T
=NBRC 101967T
=BCC 21229T
)