Plants are important reservoirs of described and undescribed species of yeast. During a study of yeasts associated with bromeliads from the Northeast region of Brazil (collected in 2013-2017), analysis of the D1/D2 domain of the LSU rRNA and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region identified eleven strains of yeasts as representing an unknown species of the genus Vishniacozyma. The species may have a diverse habitat in Brazil as a strain was collected from a flowering plant (Acanthaceae) in 1994. As a consequence, we propose Vishniacozyma alagoana sp. nov. as a member of the tremellomycetes yeasts (Agaricomycotina, Basidiomycota). Vishniacozyma alagoana sp. nov. was found in Atlantic Forest (a tropical rainforest) and the Caatinga (a seasonally dry tropical forest) associated with bromeliads in northeast and southeastern Brazil. The proposed novel species is related to Vishniacozyma taibaiensis and distinguished by eight nucleotide substitutions in the D1/D2 domain and seventeen in the ITS region. In addition, Vishniacozyma alagoana sp. nov. differs from V. taibaiensis by the ability to assimilate ribitol. The holotype is CBS 15966T.
Keywords: Caatinga; Mata Atlântica; basidiomycetous; new species; plants.