Pichia

Pichia
Pichia gentianae young cells
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Saccharomycetes
Order: Saccharomycetales
Family: Pichiaceae
Genus: Pichia
Hansen, 1904
Species

See text

Synonyms[1]
  • Azymohansenula E.K.Novák & Zsolt
  • Hyphopichia Mycoderma
  • Desmazières, 1827 Mycokluyveria
  • Ciferri & Redaelli, 1947 Petasospora
  • Boidin & Abadie, 1955 Zygohansenula
  • J.Lodder, 1932 Zygowillia
  • (Klöcker) Kudrjanzev, 1960 Zymopichia
  • E.K.Novák & Zsolt, 1961

Pichia (Hansenula and Hyphopichia are obsolete synonyms) is a genus of yeasts in the family Pichiaceae with spherical, elliptical, or oblong acuminate cells. Pichia is a teleomorph, and forms hat-shaped, hemispherical, or round ascospores during sexual reproduction. The anamorphs of some Pichia species are Candida species. The asexual reproduction is by multilateral budding.

The genus name of Pichia is in honour of Pico Pichi (1862–1933), who was an Italian botanist and Professor of natural history and plant pathology at a viticulture school in the town of Conegliano in the Province of Treviso.[2]

The genus was circumscribed by Emil Christian Hansen in Centralbl. Bakteriol., 2. Abt., 12 on pages 533–538 in 1904.

Lactose is neither fermented nor assimilated by these species. The behaviour with regard to other carbohydrates is dependent on the different species. Nitrate is always assimilated.[citation needed]

More than 100 species of this genus are known. GBIF lists 155.[1] A number of Pichia species have been reassigned to other genera, see below. As a result, Species Fungorum accepts only 32 species (see below for list).[3]

  1. ^ a b "Pichia E.C.Hansen, 1904". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  2. ^ Burkhardt, Lotte (2022). Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen [Encyclopedia of eponymic plant names] (pdf) (in German). Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2022. ISBN 978-3-946292-41-8. S2CID 246307410. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fungorum was invoked but never defined (see the help page).