Abstract

The purpose of this study is to isolate and identify wild yeasts from the soil samples collected in Daegu and Daejeon City, Republic of Korea. Among 15 strains isolated in this study, 13 strains were previously reported and two strains had not been reported in Republic of Korea. To identify wild yeast strains, pairwise sequence comparisons of D1/D2 region of the 26S rRNA gene sequence were done using Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST). The cell morphologies were observed by phase contrast microscope and assimilation tests were done using API 20C AUX kit. All strains were assigned to the phylum Basidiomycota. The two unrecorded yeast strains, PG2-2-10C and DJ2-14-10C, belong to the genus Holtermanniella (family Holtermanniaceae, order Holtermanniales, class Tremellomycetes) and Goffeauzyma (family Filobasidiaceae, order Filobasidiales, class Tremellomycetes), respectively. The two unrecorded yeast strains had oval shape and polar budding cells. This research describers the morphological and biochemical properties of the two unreported yeast species that had not officially reported in Korea.