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Nectar Yeast Community of Tropical Flowering Plants and Assessment of Their Osmotolerance and Xylitol-Producing Potential

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Abstract

Floral nectar is colonised by microbes, especially yeasts which alter the scent, temperature, and chemical composition of nectar, thereby playing an essential role in pollination. The yeast communities inhabiting the nectar of tropical flowers of India are not well explored. We isolated 48 yeast strains from seven different tropical flowering plants. Post MSP-PCR-based screening, 23 yeast isolates and two yeast-like fungi were identified, which belonged to 16 species of 12 genera viz. Candida (2 species), Aureobasidium (2 species), Metschnikowia (2 species), Meyerozyma (1 species), Saitozyma (1 species), Wickerhamomyces (1 species), Kodamaea (2 species), Pseudozyma (1 species), Starmerella (1 species), Hanseniaspora (1 species), Rhodosporidiobolus (1 species), Moesziomyces (1 species), and two putative novel species. All yeast strains were assessed for their osmotolerance abilities in high salt and sugar concentration. Among all the isolates, C. nivariensis (SRA2.2, SRA1.1 and SRA2.1), M. caribbica (SRA4.8 and SRA4.6), S. flava SRA4.2, and M. reukaufii SRA3.2 showed significant growth in high concentrations of sugar (40–50% glucose), as well as salt (12–15% NaCl). All 25 strains were also screened for their ability to utilise xylose to produce xylitol. Meyerozyma caribbica was the most efficient xylitol producer, wherein three strains of this species (SRA4.6, SRA4.1, and SRA4.8) generated 18.61 to 21.56 g l−1 of xylitol, with 0.465–0.539 g g−1 yields. Through this study, we draw attention towards the tropical floral nectar as a potential niche for the isolation of diverse, osmotolerant, and xylitol-producing yeasts. Such osmotolerant yeasts have potential applications in food industries and biofuel production.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful to the Director, MACS’ Agharkar Research Institute, for providing the necessary facilities to carry out this research work. We are grateful to Dr Karthick Balasubramanian and Mr Bhushan Shigwan from Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, for helping us with nectar sampling. We thank Ms Nikita Mehta for her timely assistance. Snigdha Tiwari is grateful to the University Grants Commission, Delhi (India) for senior research fellowship [827/(CSIR-UGC NET DEC.2017)].

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Author notes

  1. Snigdha Tiwari and Reshma Jadhav contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Fungal Culture Collection of India (NFCCI), Biodiversity and Palaeobiology Group, MACS-Agharkar Research Institute, G.G. Agarkar Road, Pune, 411004, India

    Snigdha Tiwari, Reshma Jadhav, Rameshwar Avchar & Abhishek Baghela

  2. Savitribai Phule Pune University, Ganeshkhind, Pune, 411007, India

    Snigdha Tiwari, Rameshwar Avchar & Abhishek Baghela

  3. Bioenergy Group, MACS-Agharkar Research Institute, G.G. Agarkar Road, Pune, 411004, India

    Vikram Lanjekar

  4. Biodiversity and Palaeobiology Group, Agharkar Research Institute, G.G. Agarkar Road, Pune, 411004, India

    Mandar Datar

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  1. Snigdha Tiwari
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Contributions

ST: Conceptualisation, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data Curation, Writing- Original draft. RJ: Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data Curation. RA: Investigation and Formal analysis. VL: Validation, Formal analysis. Mandar Datar: Sampling, Writing- Reviewing and Editing. AB: Conceptualisation, Methodology, Data Curation, Resources, Supervision, Project administration, Writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Abhishek Baghela.

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Tiwari, S., Jadhav, R., Avchar, R. et al. Nectar Yeast Community of Tropical Flowering Plants and Assessment of Their Osmotolerance and Xylitol-Producing Potential. Curr Microbiol 79, 28 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-021-02700-9

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