Gelidatrema psychrophila sp. nov., a novel yeast species isolated from an ice island in the Canadian High Arctic

Abstract

A new cold-adapted yeast species, Gelidatrema psychrophila sp. nov., was isolated from a melt-pool microbial mat community, on an ice island located in Disraeli Fjord, Ellesmere Island, in the Canadian High Arctic. Molecular analysis of the D1/D2 domain sequence of the large subunit rDNA showed that this species is novel and could grow at sub-zero temperatures and in vitamin-free media. These characteristics were likely acquired by the yeast to survive in extreme, perennially cold oligotrophic environments.