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SHORT REPORT

Trichosporon Species Isolated from Guano Samples Obtained from Bat-Inhabited Caves in Japan

Department of Microbiology, Meiji Pharmaceutical University, Kiose, Tokyo 204-8588, Japan,¹ Department of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo Women's Medical University School of Medicine, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan,² Teikyo University Institute of Medical Mycology, Tokyo 192-0395, Japan,³ Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan,⁴ Department of Applied Biological Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Saga University, Saga 840-8502, Japan,⁵ Research Center for Pathogenic Fungi and Microbial Toxicoses, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8673, Japan,⁶ Department of Bioactive Molecules, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan⁷

Received 2 February 2005/ Accepted 15 July 2005

Yeasts from caves have rarely been examined. We examined yeasts collected from bat guano samples from 20 bat-inhabited limestone and volcanic caves located in 11 prefectures in Japan. Of 700 yeast-like colonies, nine Trichosporon species were recovered from 15 caves. Two of these were known species, and the remaining seven are potentially novel species, based on molecular phylogenetic analyses. In addition to Trichosporon species, identifiable strains of eight ascomycetous yeasts and one basidiomycetous yeast were recovered at frequencies of 5 to 35%. Our findings suggest that Trichosporon spp. are the major yeast species in bat guano in Japan and that bat guano is a potentially rich source of previously undescribed yeast species.