YEAR

11 GCSE BIOLOGY: MICROBIOLOGY YEAST CELLS

Yeasts are single-celled fungi that do not form hyphae (branching laments that make up fungal mycelia). Dierent species of fungi can be found everywhere on the surface of fruits, the nectaries of owers, in soil, water, and even on dust in the air. Like moulds, a yeast cell has a cell wall surrounding the cell membrane and cytoplasm, as well as a central vacuole. Each cell also contains a single nucleus. The size of a yeast cell can vary greatly depending on the species, typically measuring 34 micrometres (m) in diameter, although some can reach over 40 m. One species of yeast that is very important to humans is Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It reproduces asexually by a process called budding. When a yeast cell buds, it forms a small bulge on one side of the cell. The nucleus of the cell divides in two by mitosis. The bulge grows steadily bigger and bigger until it is about the same size as its parent cell. The bud containing the new nucleus then pinches o at the base, and breaks away to form a new yeast cell. When yeast cells have a good supply of food, this process can occur extremely quickly, so that in a few hours thousands more yeast cells are formed. Saccharomyces is the yeast which is widely used by humans for baking bread and fermenting alcoholic beverages. The production of such foodstus all involve the respiration of yeast. When yeast cells are deprived of oxygen, they respire anaerobically, breaking sugar down into ethanol and carbon dioxide. In wine making, grapes are pickled and crushed to produce a juice called must. Wild yeasts living on the surface of the grapes assist in starting the fermentation of the must before cultivated yeast is added. During the actual fermentation process, alcohol concentration in the wine builds up, killing the yeast cells when it rises above 14%. In beer making, starch in barley is rst broken down into sugar so that yeast cells can ferment it to ethanol. When barley cells germinate, they produce amylase, which is used by the yeast as an energy source in fermentation. After the process of malting, hops are added for taste and yeast is added; this uses up the oxygen in the mixture, and so initiates the anaerobic respiration of any sugars in the mixture. To make dierent types of beer, dierent species of yeast are used. Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Brewers yeast) is used to make ales, and Saccharomyces carlsbergensis for lagers. In bread making, Saccharomyces cerevisiae is again used, although it is more commonly known as Bakers yeast. Flour and water are mixed together, and yeast added, forming the dough. Enzymes from the original cereal grains break down starch to sugars, which are the fermented by the yeast. Fermentation produces carbon dioxide gas bubbles, which expand when the dough is baked, making the bread light and giving it a light, cellular texture. Baking also kills the yeast cells and evaporates any ethanol made by the fermentation.