Saturnispora mangrovi f.a., sp. nov. from Syhat mangrove, Saudi Arabia

Strain SY-07 was isolated from decaying leaves of Avicennia marina collected from Syhat mangroves, Dammam city, Arabian Gulf, Saudi Arabia. Phylogenetic analyses of three genes [D1/D2 region of the LSU and SSU rRNA genes and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region] showed that strain SY-07 represents a novel species of the genus Saturnispora distinct from closely related species. Saturnispora mendoncae was the most closely related species with an LSU gene sequence similarity of 89.3% (58 nucleotide substitutions and four indels out of 578 nt), 97% similarity for the SSU gene (42 nucleotide substitutions and 10 indels out of 1614 nt) and 88% similarity for the ITS region (15 nucleotide substitutions and eight indels out of 430 nt). In addition, strain SY-07 differed from S. mendoncae by its ability to assimilate d-galactose (weak), d-xylose (weak), meso-erythritol (delayed), glucono-δ-lactone, citrate (delayed) and ethylamine. S. mendoncae produced persistent asci that contain two to four spherical ascospores and lacked pseudohyphae, while sexual reproduction was not observed in strain SY-07 and extensive and pseudohyphae were present. Strain SY-07 was able to grow at between 25 and 40 °C, while S. mendoncae did not grow at 37 °C. The name Saturnispora mangrovi f.a., sp. nov. is proposed for strain SY-07. The holotype is CBS 15874, with the ex-type culture AUMC 12005. The MycoBank number for Saturnispora mangrovi f.a., sp. nov. is MB 827036.