Site author Richard Steane
The BioTopics website gives access to interactive resource material, developed to support the learning and teaching of Biology at a variety of levels.
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Site author Richard Steane
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The BioTopics website gives access to interactive resource material, developed to support the learning and teaching of Biology at a variety of levels.
|
Yeast comes in strange forms ... 
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Yeast is a living organism. It can be used to make bread and alcoholic drinks such as beer and wine.
Different species of yeast may cause infections such as thrush.
Yeast consists of single cells. They are smaller than animal and plant cells, but slightly larger than bacteria. These cells also have several similarities with cells of (green) plants and animals, but lots of differences, which is why they are put into a kingdom of their own. On the outside of the cell is a cell wall, but it is not made of cellulose. Inside this is a membrane enclosing the cytoplasm. A yeast cell contains a nucleus, like those in plant and animal cells There are mitochondria in yeast cells. There are no chloroplasts in yeast cells. Yeast cells do contain ribosomes, the same size as ribosomes in animal and plant cells. |
 Some of these yeast cells have small outgrowths - buds - so they are about to reproduce.
Yeast cell (sectional view)
- click to label |
| cell/component | size / µm | note |
| yeast cell | 3-4 | much variation between strains and growing conditions |
