Saccharomyces pombe

Saccharomyces pombe also called 'fission yeast' is a species of yeast. It is a unicellular microscopic eukaryote and has 3 linear chromosomes within a membrance bound nucleus.

Cells usually measure 3 to 4 micrometres in diameter and 7 to 14 micrometres in length.

S. pombe contains approximately 13 million base pairs with around 5000 protein-coding genes.

Saccharomyces pombe is a major yeast genetic model. It is used as a genetic model as it is small in size, it has a rapid growth rate, its sexual cycle can be used for genetic crosses, it is easily genetically manipulated, it is easily transformed and it has many mutants. 

These cells maintain their shape by growing exclusively through the cell tips and divide by medial fission to produce two daughter cells of equal sizes, which makes them a powerful tool in cell cycle research. S. pombe has been an excellent model for the study of the cell cycle and mitosis, chromosome dynamics, and epigenetics.