Scheffersomyces shehatae NRRL Y-12858T. Image by Katharina de Oliveira Barros.

Scheffersomyces shehatae is a budding yeast species that has been isolated from soil, rotten wood, insects, and fruits in different places of the planet. Along with Scheffersomyces stipitis, S. shehatae is of interest to biotechnologists because of its ability to produce ethanol from D-xylose, a major pentose in plant biomass. Analysis of its genome may contribute to important genomic information that could be used to improve the efficiency of xylose utilization and fermentation.

References:
Kurtzman, CP. Scheffersomyces Kurtzman & M. Suzuki (2010). In: Kurtzman CP, Fell JW, Boekhout T (editors). The Yeasts, a Taxonomic Study, 5th ed, vol. 1. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 2011. pp. 773-777.