Question

Yeast belongs to _________.
A. Phycomycetes
B. Anthocerotae
C. Ascomycetes
D. Basidiomycetes

Answer 1

Hint: Yeast is a eukaryotic organism which is single celled and is classified under the kingdom of fungi. Most of the species of the yeast reproduce asexually by budding. The most common species of the yeast is the Saccharomyces cerevisiae which is used for fermentation and baking purpose.

Complete answer:
As we know yeast is a type of fungi. The true fungi are classified into subdivisions – Mastigomycotina, Zygomycotina, Ascomycotina, Basidiomycota and Deuteromycota.
Let us look at each of the options given in the question now. The first one is phycomycetes. Phycomycetes is an old taxon which is no longer in use. Mastigomycotina and Zygomycotina were previously placed under Phycomycetes. Phycomycetes contain aquatic, saprophytic and parasitic fungi. The examples are Mucor, Saprolegnia spp., Phytophthora etc.
Next is Anthocerotae. Anthocerotae is a class of bryophytes and is commonly called hornworts. It consists of a single order and single family Anthocerotales and Anthocerotaceae.
Next, we will talk about ascomycetes. Ascomycetes is also called sac fungi because these fungi produce elongated sacs called asci. This is the largest subdivision of fungi and contains some very well-known genus such as Penicillium, Saccharomyces, Aspergillus, Neurospora etc.
The last option is Basidiomycetes. Basidiomycetes are a group of fungi that produce basidiospores (sexual spores) in a club shaped basidium. This is also one of the largest groups of fungi along with Ascomycota. The common species of Basidiomycetes are all the mushrooms, earth stars, puff balls etc.

So, as we can see the yeast comes under the division Ascomycetes and hence the correct answer is option C – Ascomycetes.

Note:
Yeasts actually come under both Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes but yeast is generally considered to be only the Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This yeast is generally called the Baker’s yeast as it is widely used in the baking industry as it causes the bread to rise acting as a leavening agent. It is also used extensively in the breweries for alcoholic fermentation which is a different strain and it is called the brewer’s yeast.