Saccharomycetes

Budding Yeasts

3 genera · 3 species

Saccharomycetes is the class of true yeasts that contains baker's and brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and its relatives. These fungi mostly live as single cells that multiply by budding, and they never form a mushroom or other fruiting body; when they reproduce sexually, the spores form inside a bare cell (a naked ascus). Many members ferment sugars to alcohol and carbon dioxide, which is why the class matters so much for bread, beer, wine and other fermented foods. Under the 2023 genome-based classification the class is narrower than before: it now holds four orders (Saccharomycetales, Saccharomycodales, Phaffomycetales and Ascoideales), while other yeast lineages such as the Candida albicans group were moved to separate classes.