Luiz Felipe A Santana, Katharina O Barros, Anna Paula O Tironi, Ana Raquel O Santos, Luiza B Bramusse, Karen Costa, Eloisa S Silva, Maria Clara V M Starling, Camila C Amorim, Daniela L Souza, Glória R Franco, Marc-André Lachance, Carlos A Rosa, Susana Johann
Yeasts recovered from wastewater of a public hospital in Minas Gerais state, Brazil, included a single isolate representing a putative novel species. Sequence analysis of the ITS-5.8S region and the D1/D2 domains of the LSU rRNA gene placed this yeast within the genus Sungouiella, close to Sungouiella thailandica. Phylogenomic inference based on 1,849 single-copy orthologues from Sungouiella species with available genomes confirmed that strain UFMG-CM-Y7468 forms a distinct lineage with S. thailandica as its closest known relative. The name Sungouiella purgamenti sp. nov. (MycoBank MB 863665) is proposed, with CBS 19634 designated as the holotype. The isolate was able to grow at 37 °C, showed susceptibility to most antifungal agents tested, except for itraconazole with an MIC of 0.5 mg l-1, within the dose-dependent range, and exhibited strong extracellular protease activity. However, S. purgamenti showed a genomic toolkit consistent with a stress-tolerant and environmentally versatile lifestyle, while no specific or unique virulence determinants were identified based on genome content alone.