''Cyttaria'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

ascomycete Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The defi ...

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

. About 10 species belong to ''Cyttaria'', found in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

associated with or growing on southern beech trees from the genus ''

Nothofagus ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere in southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and Australasia (east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Gui ...

''. The "llao llao" fungus ''

Cyttaria hariotii ''Cyttaria hariotii'' is an edible mushroom commonly called llao llao, llaullao and pan de indio. The fungus, found in Patagonia, southern Chile and Argentina, is parasitic on ''Nothofagus'' (Southern beech) trees. The fungus affects its hosts int ...

'', one of the most common fungi in Andean-Patagonian forests, has been shown to harbor the yeast ''

Saccharomyces eubayanus ''Saccharomyces eubayanus'', a cryotolerant (cold tolerant) type of yeast, is most likely the parent of the lager brewing yeast, ''Saccharomyces pastorianus''.. Lager is a type of beer created from malted barley and fermented at low temperatures ...

'', which may be source of the

lager Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storage" ...

yeast '' S. pastorianus'' cold-tolerance. ''Cyttaria'' was originally described by mycologist

Miles Joseph Berkeley Miles Joseph Berkeley (1 April 1803 – 30 July 1889) was an English cryptogamist and clergyman, and one of the founders of the science of plant pathology. Life Berkeley was born at Biggin Hall, Benefield, Northamptonshire, and educated at R ...

in 1842.

References

Taxa named by Miles Joseph Berkeley Leotiomycetes genera {{Leotiomycetes-stub