Biotic Surveys & Inventories
Beetles and their yeast endosymbionts from basidiocarp habitats
Yeasts
Home / Introduction / Participants / Basidiocarps as habitat / Insects / Yeasts / Methods / Publications / Literature cited / Proposal I / Proposal II / Mycology at LSU
The terms “yeast” and “yeast-like fungus” encompass nearly one thousand described taxa, and even include basidiomycetes. Fungi that reproduce somatically by budding or cell fission are yeasts. Yeasts generally can be distinguished from yeast-like fungi by the absence of a fruiting body to contain ascospores in sexual reproduction (Alexopoulos, Mims, and Blackwell, 1996; Kurtzman and Fell, 1998). The endosymbionts reported in the preliminary study mostly are species of true ascomycetous yeasts (Saccharomycetales) (Table 4). The homopteran yeast-like endosymbionts are members of Hypocreales (Blackwell and Jones, 1997). In addition to saccharomycetalean yeasts, anobiid beetles also harbor species of Symbiotaphrina, yeast-like members of a poorly resolved discomycete-loculoascomycete euascomycete clade (Jones and Blackwell, 1996; Jones, Dowd, and Blackwell, 1999).  Although we expect mostly saccharomycetalean yeasts, we will not overlook any derived yeast-like ascomycetes should they be present. Tremellalean basidiomycetous yeasts, although probably not endosymbionts, often have been reported from mushrooms (Prillinger et al., 1987), and besides the ascomycetes they are expected among the nonsymbiotic yeasts in the habitats of the beetles.
What is a yeast? Yeasts and yeast-like fungi associated with insects. 
ASCOMYCOTA
    Basal ascomycetes (archiascomycetes) --many yeast forms, but none yet known in arthropod associations
   Hemiascomycetes (true yeasts, encompassing Saccaromycetales)
    Euascomycetes (ascohymenial or filamentous ascomycetes)
          Perithecial ascomycetes (Ceratocystis, homopteran hypocreaceous symbiont, Ophiostoma)
          Perithecial outliers (Kathistes, Pyxidiophora, Symbiotaphrina)
BASIDIOMYCETES
   Tremellales 

Yeast isolates
Yeast isolates (PDF)
Yeast nutrition (PDF)

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0072741. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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Last update: 5 May 2001
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