yeastlike

yeast 

Main Entry: yeast
Pronunciation: 'yEst
Function: noun
1 a : a yellowish surface froth or sediment that occurs especially in saccharine liquids (asfruit juices) in which it promotes alcoholic fermentation, consists largely of cells of a fungus of the family Saccharomycetaceae, and is used especially in the making of alcoholic liquors and as aleaven in baking b : a commercial product containing yeast plants in a moist or dry medium
2 a : a minute fungus (especially Saccharomyces cerevisiae) thatis present and functionally active in yeast, usually has little or no mycelium, and reproduces by budding b : any of various similar fungi (especially orders Endomycetales andMoniliales) —yeast·like /-"lIk/ adjective

yeast (yēst)
n.

1. Any of various unicellular fungi of the genus Saccharomyces, especially S. cerevisiae, reproducing by budding and from ascospores and capable of fermenting carbohydrates.

2. Any of various similar fungi.

3. A commercial preparation in either powdered or compressed form containing yeast cells and inert material and used especially as a leavening agent or as a dietary supplement.

yeast   (yēst)  Pronunciation Key  Any of various one-celled fungi that reproduce by budding and can cause the fermentation of carbohydrates, producing carbon dioxide and ethanol. There are some 600 known species of yeast, though they do not form a natural phylogenic group. Most yeasts are ascomycetes, but there are also yeast species among the basidiomycetes and zygomycetes. The budding processes in yeasts show a wide range of variations. In many yeasts, for example, the buds break away as diploid cells. Other yeasts reproduce asexually only after meiosis, and their haploid buds act as gametes that can combine to form a diploid cell, which functions as an ascus and undergoes meiosis to produce haploid spores. Still other yeasts form buds in both haploid and diploid phases. The ascomycete yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is used in baking to produce the carbon dioxide that leavens dough and batter. It has been the subject of extensive research in cell biology, and its genome was the first to be sequenced among eukaryotes. A variety of yeasts of the genus Saccharomyces are used in making beer and wine to provide alcohol content and flavor. Certain other yeasts, such as Candida albicans, are pathogenic in humans.