UBIQUINONE SYSTEMS IN STRAINS OF SPECIES IN THE BLACK YEAST GENERA PHAEOCOCCOMYCES, EXOPHIALA, HORTAEA, AND RHINOCLADIELLA

Abstract

The ubiquinone systems of 20 strains assigned to the black yeast genera Phaeococcomyces, Exophiala, Hortaea, and Rhinocladiella, and the related genus Cryptococcus were determined by high performance liquid chromatography. The strains tested had ubiquinone systems. The taxa were divided into two groups within the respective genera based on the ubiquinone system, each having the Q-10 or Q-10 (H₂) system as the major ubiquinone. The monotypic genus Hortaea had the Q-10 (H₂) system, whereas two Cryptococcus species, C. ater and C. magnus related to Phaeococcomyces, had the Q-10 system. The heterogeneity of the ubiquinone profiles suggests that the genera Phaeococcomyces, Exophiala, and Rhinocladiella be revised taxonomically on the basis of the modern taxonomic criteria.