Validity of Candida natalensis van der Walt et Tscheuschner

In order to verify whether Candida natalensis is a synonym of Candida sake or not, we investigated DNA base composition, DNA-DNA hybridization, the electrophoretic patterns of enzymes, and proton magnetic resonance (PMR) spectra of cell wall mannans of representative strains of C. natalensis and C. sake. No significant differences in DNA base compositions were found among strains of C. natalensis and C. sake. Very low DNA relatedness was detected between the type strain of C. natalensis and the type strain of C. sake, and little DNA relatedness was demonstrated between a strain of C. natalensis and the type strain of C. sake. Furthermore, little DNA relatedness was found between the type strain and a strain of C. natalensis. These results well correlated with those of the electrophoretic patterns of seven enzymes and PMR spectra of cell wall mannans. C. natalensis is a distinct species from C. sake. Also, one strain, which was previously identified as C. natalensis, is a different species from C. natalensis and C. sake.