Candida cabralensis sp. nov., a yeast species isolated from traditional Spanish blue-veined Cabrales cheese

Three yeast strains, 1AD8T, 3AD15 and 3AD23, belonging to a previously unknown yeast species were isolated from two independent batches of the Spanish blue-veined Cabrales cheese, a traditional cheese manufactured without the addition of starter and mould cultures. Physiological characterization revealed that the unknown yeast is not fermentative and does not assimilate lactose; rather it assimilates dl-lactic acid and ethanol, major end products of lactic acid bacteria metabolism in cheese. The novel yeast is anamorphic. Phylogenetic tree reconstruction based on nucleotide sequence comparison of the D1/D2 region of the 26S rRNA gene showed that Pichia terricola and Pichia fermentans are the closest relatives of the unknown species. The name Candida cabralensis sp. nov. is proposed, and the isolate 1AD8T (=CECT 13027T =CBS 11679T) is the type strain of this novel taxon.