What is the Difference Between Budding Yeast and Fission Yeast?

Budding yeast and fission yeast are two types of yeasts that differ in their modes of reproduction, cell shape, and genetic makeup. The key differences between them include:

1. Reproduction: Budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) reproduces through budding, while fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) reproduces through fission.
2. Cell Shape: Budding yeast is a spherical, unicellular eukaryote, while fission yeast is a rod-shaped unicellular eukaryote.
3. Cell Cycle: Budding yeast begins cytokinesis at the G1 phase, while fission yeast begins cytokinesis at the G2 phase. Budding yeast spends an extended period of time in the G1 phase, while fission yeast spends an extended period of time in the G2 phase.
4. Genetic Makeup: Fission yeast has fewer duplicated genes compared to budding yeast, with only 5% of its genes being duplicated. This makes fission yeast a useful model genome for researchers to study and observe.
5. Cell Polarization: Both budding and fission yeasts exhibit cell polarization, but they have distinct strategies in growth site selection and growth zone dimensions, which may be the basis for their distinct shapes.

Despite these differences, both budding and fission yeasts are unicellular free-living fungi belonging to the Ascomycota phylum. They also share some common features, such as using an actomyosin-based contractile ring to execute cell division and having the major lipids in both yeast species being glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids, and sterols.

Comparative Table: Budding Yeast vs Fission Yeast

Budding yeast and fission yeast are two types of yeasts based on their mode of reproduction. They are both unicellular free-living fungi belonging to Ascomycota and have well-characterized genomes. Here is a table comparing their differences:

Both budding and fission yeasts use an actomyosin-based contractile ring to execute cell division. The major lipids in both yeast species are glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids, and sterols. These yeasts provide easy-to-manipulate genetic systems for studying cell cycles and chromosome dynamics.