<div>Atacama is the most hyper-arid Desert in the world. In this study, we
describe a novel species, <i>Nakazawaea atacamensis</i> f. a., sp. nov.,
isolated from plant samples in the Atacama Desert of Chile. In total,
three isolates of <i>N. atacamensis</i> were obtained from independent
<i>Neltuma chilensis</i> bark samples (synonym Prosopis chilensis,
Algarrobo). The novel species was identified based on morphological,
physiological, biochemical, and molecular characteristics. The
phylogenetic analysis using concatenated sequences of the SSU rRNA gene,
ITS region, and D1/D2 domains of LSU rRNA revealed that <i>N.
atacamensis</i> sp. nov. formed an early diverging cluster closely related
to <i>Nakazawaea peltata,</i> <i>N.</i> <i>siamensis</i> and <i>N.
odontotermitis</i>. The sequence identity of <i>N. atacamensis</i> differed
from closely related species by 6% to 10% in the investigated regions.
Phenotypic comparisons demonstrated that <i>N. atacamensis</i> sp. nov.
exhibited distinct carbon assimilation patterns compared to its related
species. Genome sequencing of the ATA-11A-B <sup>T</sup> strain
revealed a genome size of approximately 12.4 Mbp, similar to other
<i>Nakazawaea</i> species, with 5,116 protein-coding genes annotated
using InterProScan. In addition, <i>N. atacamensis</i> exhibited the
capacity to ferment synthetic wine must, representing a potential new
yeast for mono or co-culture wine fermentations. This comprehensive
study expands our understanding of the genus <i>Nakazawaea</i> and
highlights the ecological and industrial potential of these yeasts in
fermentation processes. The holotype of <i>N. atacamensis</i> sp. nov.
is CBS 18375 <sup>T</sup>. The Mycobank number is MB 849680.</div>