Saccharomyces

Saccharomyces. (sae-kuh-ro-may'-seez)

    A genus of the Ascomycetes class of yeasts, subfamily Saccharomycetoideae. All species of this genus have the common property of generating ethyl alcohol from sugar, but are differentiated by their ability to ferment the carbohydrates: galactose, maltose, sucrose, melibiose, lactose, raffinose, and starch. Etym: So named by the German chemist Mayer in 1830 when he first isolated yeast under a microscope. Saccharomyces is a scientific translation of an earlier expression, sugar mushrooms, given to yeast by Schwann. See also: zukerpilz.