Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Japanese: 出芽酵母（Saccharomyces cerevisiae）
The most representative yeast used in bread, beer, wine, and sake brewing. A eukaryotic microorganism that reproduces by budding and performs alcoholic fermentation under anaerobic conditions.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae is one of the microorganisms with the longest history alongside humanity. Baking bread, brewing beer, making wine—all are this yeast's work.
The genus name Saccharomyces means 'sugar fungus,' and the species name cerevisiae means 'of beer.' True to its name, it excels at converting sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
It was also the first eukaryote to have its entire genome sequenced (1996), making immeasurable contributions to molecular biology and genetics. Of its roughly 6,000 genes, about 30% have homologs in humans. Yeast is closer to us than we might think.