Keywords
Asci, budding, Cryptococcus, fungi, Saccharomyces
Definition
Yeasts are unicellular fungi that in some cases present dimorphism depending on culture media conditions.
Overview
According to recent revisions, yeasts are classified in the Kingdom Mycota, Phylum Eu-Mycota. They were included in the class Endomycota due to their capacity to form sexual spores in “asci.” In this group, monokaryon spores are released after one meiosis division, and afterward their nuclei could be joined to form dikaryon cells. This process was detected for the first time in this group of microorganisms. In general, their system of reproduction is based on a life cycle that combines firstly reproduction by budding and secondly by division (binary fission) which is cellular division by simple mitosis and recombination after meiotic reduction. As with filamentous fungi, yeasts are grouped as: (1) Ascomycete-type yeasts that produce ascospores; (2) Basidiomycete-type yeasts that produce basidiospores;...
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References and Further Reading
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González, A. (2011). Yeast. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11274-4_1698
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11274-4_1698
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