KLUYVEROMYCES AESTUARII, A POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INDICATOR YEAST FOR MANGROVES IN THE STATE OF RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

Kluyveromyces aestuarii was found in sediments from 7 of 8 mangroves in Rio de Janeiro; and absent only at one site with heavy plastic bag pollution. Its presence suggests influence in other habitats from a mangrove and its absence in a mangrove suggests some non- fecal pollution or other habitat alteration. Key words: Kluyveromyces aestuarii; mangroves; environmental indicator Estuaries have more yeast cells per volume and also greater richness of species than adjacent aquatic areas (10, 28). Some yeasts have been isolated mostly from these environments, especially in mangrove forests of tropical and subtropical estuaries and temperate salt marshes. Scheffersomyces spartinae has been reported under the name Pichia spartinae from southeastern U. S. salt marshes and associated with the marsh grass Spartina alterniflora, (2, 9, 20, 21), and various new species including some in the Saccharomyces clade have been described recently fro