9.1. Saccharomyces cerevisiae http://www.ck12.org
9.1 Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Status
reviewed by CK-12
Common Names
- Yeast
- Baker’s Yeast
- Brewer’s Yeast
- Budding Yeast
Description
Saccharomyces cerevisiae,which in Latin means “sugar fungus,” is a species of the fungi yeast. It is a single-celled
eukaryotic organism.S. cerevisiaehas been instrumental in baking and brewing for thousands of years.S. cerevisiae
reproduces by budding. Often when using the general termyeast,scientists are referring toS. cerevisiae.
Saccharomycesis perhaps the most useful and one of the best studied single-celled eukaryotes. As such,S. cerevisiae
is considered a eukaryotic model organism in molecular and cell biology, and has been instrumental in research on
the cell cycle, metabolism, signal transduction, protein interactions, and regulatory networks.