''Kluyveromyces'' 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
ascomycetous 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 in the family
Saccharomycetaceae.
Some of the species, such as ''
K. marxianus'', are the
teleomorphs of ''
Candida species''.
The genus name of ''Kluyveromyces'' is in honour of
Albert Jan Kluyver ForMemRS (1888-1956), who was a
Dutch microbiologist
A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...
and
biochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...
.
The genus was
circumscribed by Johannes P. Van der Walt in
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek ( ; ; 24 October 1632 – 26 August 1723) was a Dutch microbiologist and microscopist in the Golden Age of Dutch art, science and technology. A largely self-taught man in science, he is commonly known as " ...
vol.22 on pages 268–271 in 1956.
Mating and
sporulation
In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plant ...
in ''Kluyveromyces'' are co-induced by poor environments and most often occur in succession without intervening
diploid
Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, ...
mitotic cell divisions.
[Hanson SJ, Wolfe KH. An Evolutionary Perspective on Yeast Mating-Type Switching. Genetics. 2017 May;206(1):9-32. doi: 10.1534/genetics.117.202036. /www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28476860?dopt=Abstract PMID 28476860 PMCID: PMC5419495]
A ''
RAD52'' gene homolog from ''Kluyveromyces lactis'' was cloned and characterized.
[Milne GT, Weaver DT. Dominant negative alleles of RAD52 reveal a DNA repair/recombination complex including Rad51 and Rad52. Genes Dev. 1993 Sep;7(9):1755-65. doi: 10.1101/gad.7.9.1755. /www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8370524?dopt=Abstract PMID 8370524/ref> This gene, which has a central role in recombinational repair of DNA, can complement '' S. cerevisiae'' ''rad52'' ]mutant
In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It i ...
s.[
]
Species
''Kluyveromyces'' is widely cultured for microbiological and genetic research. Some important species include:
* '' Kluyveromyces lactis''
* '' Kluyveromyces marxianus''
* '' Kluyveromyces thermotolerans''
See also
* Yeast in winemaking
References
Saccharomycetaceae
Yeasts
Yeasts used in brewing
{{yeast-stub