Schizosaccharomyces pombe

A Microbial Biorealm page on the genus Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Classification

Higher order taxa

Superkingdom: Eukaryota, Kingdom: Fungi, Phylum: Ascomycota, Subphylum: Dikarya, Subphylum: Taphrinomycotina, Class: Schizosaccharomycetes, Order: Schizosaccharomycetales, Family: Schizosaccharomycetaceae, Genus: Schizosaccharomyces (6)

Species

Schizosaccharomyces pombe (6)

Also known as: Schizosaccharomyces malidevorans (6)

Cell structure and metabolism

Describe any interesting features and/or cell structures; how it gains energy; what important molecules it produces.

Ecology

S. pombe is found in alcoholic beverages, and therefore, it does not play a role in the environment. However, it is one of the yeasts that play an important role in the ecology of Kombucha fermentation (5). Kombucha is a traditional fermentation of sweetened tea, involving a symbiosis of yeast species and acetic acid bacteria. The study of yeast ecology in Kombucha fermentation reveals that S. pombe works with other yeast species such as B. bruxellensis, C. stellata, T. delbrueckii, and Z. bailii (5). S. pombe and other yeasts would ferment the sugar in the tea medium to ethanol, and then ethanol is oxidized by the acetic acid bacteria to produce acetic acid. S. pombe is suited to the Kombucha environment because of its ability to tolerate high-sugar foods (5). Isolates of S. pombe, T. delbrueckki and Z. bailii exhibit tolerance up to 60% glucose concentration and are commonly associated with alcoholic fermentation for wine and champagne production. As the fermentation progressed, species with low acid tolerance decreased in population (5). Species such as S. pombe, with moderate tolerance to acidic conditions, die off after day 10. In general, Kombucha fermentation is initiated by osmotolerant species of yeast, which are capable of growing in the presence of high concentrations of sugar. The process is then succeeded and ultimately dominated by acid-tolerant species (5).

Pathology

The yeast Schizosaccaromyces pombe is a harmless, rapidly growing eukaryote. Therefore, there are no pathologies associated with this particular organism (2).

Application to Biotechnology

As of now, S. pombe is not used in any applications to biotechnology but remains an important model used in researching cell division in molecular genetics and cell biology (1).

Current Research

Enter summaries of the most recent research here--at least three required

References

[Sample reference] Takai, K., Sugai, A., Itoh, T., and Horikoshi, K. "Palaeococcus ferrophilus gen. nov., sp. nov., a barophilic, hyperthermophilic archaeon from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent chimney". International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 2000. Volume 50. p. 489-500.

Edited by student of Rachel Larsen