The Intestinal Yeasts

Yeast isolates were obtained from the hindgut of the lower termites Mastotermis darwiniensis (Mastotermitidae), Zootermopsis angusticollis, Zootermopsis nevadensis (Hodotermitidae), Neotermes jouteli (Kalotermitidae), Reticulitermes santonensis, Heterotermes indicola (Rhinotermitidae) and the roach Cryptocercus punctulatus (Prillinger et al. 1996). The monosaccharide composition of the cell wall, the ubiquinone system, partial sequencing of 18S ribosomal DNA and the ultrastructure of septal pores indicate that most yeast species belonged to the Endomycetales. They were assigned to the genera Candida, Debaryomyces, Pichia and Sporothrix. Other species showed affinities to the Basidiomycetes …