Saccharomyces

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Saccharomyces \Sac`cha*ro*my"ces\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ? sugar + ?,
     ?, a fungus.] (Biol.)
     A genus of budding fungi, the various species of which have
     the power, to a greater or less extent, or splitting up sugar
     into alcohol and carbonic acid. They are the active agents in
     producing fermentation of wine, beer, etc. {Saccharomyces


     cerevisiae} is the yeast of sedimentary beer. Also called
     {Torula}.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Saccharomyces
       n : single-celled yeasts that reproduce asexually by budding;
           used to ferment carbohydrates [syn: {genus Saccharomyces}]