Resolution of the Varietal Relationship within the Species Pichia opuntiae and Establishment of a New Species, Pichia thermotolerans comb. nov.

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Abstract
The varietal relationship within the species Pichia opuntiae was determined by a study of deoxyribonucleic acid relatedness and by a comparison of the electrophoretic mobilities of 12 metabolic enzymes. The nuclear genomes of P. opuntiae var. opuntiae and P. opuntiae var. thermotolerans showed about 28% relative binding to hydroxylapatite in intervarietal deoxyribonucleic acid reassociation experiments, and the allozymes encoded by eight loci were different in the two taxa. Based on these molecular criteria, as well as allopatry, different host plants, and weak sexual interaction, P. opuntiae var. thermotolerans is raised to the rank of species as Pichia thermotolerans (Starmer et al.) Holzschu et al. comb. nov.