Sporopachydermia lactativora on YM.
Image Credit: Mark Butcher.

Sporopachydermia lactativora, originally named Cyptococcus lactativorous, was isolated from Antartic seawater in 1966 and is named for its ability to utilize lactic acid. The lack of a visible capsule, inability to assimilate disaccharides and the trisaccharide raffinose was used to separate this from other Cyptococcus. More recently, this species has been isolated as a xylose-utilizing yeast from buffalo feces in Thailand.

In culture, the cells appear ovoid, elipsoidal to elongate and occationally curved. S. lactativora does not ferment sugars and does not form Psuedo- or true mycelia.

The Sporopachydermia lactativora genome was sequenced as part of the 1000 Fungal Genomes Project.