Does yeast reproduce asexually or sexually?

Answer 1

Asexual Reproduction in Yeast

• The asexual form of reproduction in yeast is called fission, or sometimes "budding." Budding is exactly what it sounds like. The parent cell begins to divide to form a new cell, which is the "daughter" cell, by splitting its nucleus and copying the contents, thus migrating the new nucleus into the daughter cell. The process is basically standard mitosis (cell division). The newly created cell is an exact copy of the parent cell; it can be either diploid or haploid.

Sexual Reproduction in Yeast

• Only haploid yeast cells are able to conduct sexual reproduction. When they do, the haploid cells are usually not the same gender. Before joining with the opposite type of haploid yeast cell, each cell undergoes a process called shmooing in which it becomes longer and thinner in preparation for the joining. The shmooing cells then fuse and join their nuclei together to create a diploid. The new diploid then begins to bud and form a colony of diploid yeast cells.

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Answer 2

Yeasts reproduce asexually by budding or fission.

In budding a small daughter cell (bud) is formed on the parent cell. The nucleus of the parent cell splits into a daughter nucleus and migrates into the daughter cell. The bud keeps growing until it finally splits from the parent cell - forming a new cell.

Some yeasts used to make Alcoholic Beverages, rather than budding, reproduce by fission where the parent cell splits to produce two essentially identical but smaller daughter cells (which may then grow back to the size of the parent). Most yeasts used in baking are of the same species common in alcoholic fermentation