''Schizosaccharomyces'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
fission
Fission, a splitting of something into two or more parts, may refer to:
* Fission (biology), the division of a single entity into two or more parts and the regeneration of those parts into separate entities resembling the original
* Nuclear fissio ...
yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...
s. The most well-studied species is ''
S. pombe
''Schizosaccharomyces pombe'', also called "fission yeast", is a species of yeast used in traditional brewing and as a model organism in molecular and cell biology. It is a unicellular eukaryote, whose cells are rod-shaped. Cells typically measu ...
''.
At present five Schizosaccharomyces species have been described (''
S. pombe
''Schizosaccharomyces pombe'', also called "fission yeast", is a species of yeast used in traditional brewing and as a model organism in molecular and cell biology. It is a unicellular eukaryote, whose cells are rod-shaped. Cells typically measu ...
'', ''S. japonicus'', ''S. octosporus'', ''S. cryophilus'' and ''S. osmophilus''). Like the distantly related ''
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' () (brewer's yeast or baker's yeast) is a species of yeast (single-celled fungal microorganisms). The species has been instrumental in winemaking, baking, and brewing since ancient times. It is believed to have be ...
'', ''S. pombe'' is a significant
model organism
A model organism is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism will provide insight into the workings of other organisms. Mo ...
in the study of eukaryotic cell biology. It is particularly useful in evolutionary studies because it is thought to have diverged from the ''
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' () (brewer's yeast or baker's yeast) is a species of yeast (single-celled fungal microorganisms). The species has been instrumental in winemaking, baking, and brewing since ancient times. It is believed to have be ...
'' lineage between 300 million and 1 billion years ago, and thus provides an evolutionarily distant comparison.
See also
*
Yeast in winemaking
The role of yeast in winemaking is the most important element that distinguishes wine from fruit juice. In the absence of oxygen, yeast converts the sugars of the fruit into alcohol and carbon dioxide through the process of fermentation.Jeff Cox ...
References
External links
diArk - Schizosaccharomyces
{{Authority control
Yeasts
Ascomycota
Yeasts used in brewing