Nakazawaea atacamensis f.a., sp. nov. a novel non-conventional fermentative yeast species from the Atacama Desert.

Nakazawaea is a genus of ascomycetous yeasts in the order Saccharomycetales. Currently, 15 species of the Nakazawaea genus have been isolated from diverse habitats, with a predominant association with plant materials . In this study, we describe a novel species, Nakazawaea atacamensis f. a.,sp. nov., isolated from Neltuma chilensis (synonym Prosopis chilensis , Algarrobo) samples in the Atacama Desert of Chile. The novel species was identified based on morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular characteristics. The phylogenetic analysis using concatenated sequences of the SSU rRNA gene, ITS region, and D1/D2 domains of LSU rRNA revealed that N. atacamensis sp. nov. formed an early diverging cluster closely related to Nakazawaea siamensis and Nakazawaea odontotermitis . The sequence identity of N. atacamensis differed from closely related species by 3.3% to 20.4% in the investigated regions. Phenotypic comparisons demonstrated that N. atacamensis sp. nov. exhibited distinct carbon assimilation patterns compared to related species. Genome sequencing of the type strain ATA-11A-B revealed a genome size of approximately 12.4 Mbp, similar to other Nakazawaea species, with 5,116 protein-coding genes annotated using InterProScan. In addition, N. atacamensis exhibited the capacity to ferment synthetic wine must, representing a potential new yeast for mono or co-culture wine fermentations. This comprehensive study expands our understanding of the Nakazawaea genus and highlights the ecological and industrial potential of these yeasts in fermentation processes and diverse habitats. The holotype is N. atacamensis sp. nov. (CBS 18375).