Yeasts from Antarctica

Abstract

The yeast flora of moss from Granite Harbour and of soils from Wright Dry Valley in the McMurdo Sound region of Antarctica was examined. There were 75,000 yeasts/g on the moss; species recovered were Cryptococcus laurentii, C. albidus and Rhodotorula minuta. Yeasts were isolated from 8 of the 12 soil samples in numbers up to 5000/g. Strains of Candida scottii, whose maximum growth temperature was 15[degree]C, were the predominant soil yeasts.