When Do Adaptive Mutants Arise in Yeast?

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Author:

Corey A. Goldman, Michael Dennison

Subject:

Science and Technology

Institution Name:

University of Toronto

Collection:

Association for Biology Laboratory Education (ABLE)

Grade Level:

Post-secondary

Abstract:

This exercise examines when adaptive mutations arise in a population. Students prepare cultures of baker's yeast on normal agar media and then transfer the exact spatial pattern of these colonies to agar plates containing copper using the replica-plating technique. They compare the pattern of mutant colonies on the two replicate plates to test when copper-tolerant mutants arose. If the colony positions match then the mutants pre-existed in the original population (spontaneous mutation). If colonies do not match then this supports a hypothesis that mutants were induced by exposure to the copper. Students learn skills such as preparing agar plates, the sterile technique, replica-plating, and the use of pipets and dilutions.

Course Type:

Learning Module

Languages:

English

Material Type:

Activities and Labs, Lesson Plans

Media Format:

Downloadable docs

Conditions of Use:

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Use solely at one's own institution with no intent for profit is excluded from the preceding copyright restriction, unless otherwise noted on the copyright notice of the individual chapter in this volume. Proper credit to this publication must be included in your laboratory outline for each use; a sample citation is given [on the copyright page of each volume]. Upon obtaining permission or with the "sole use at one's own institution" exclusion, ABLE strongly encourages individuals to use the exercises in this proceedings volume in their teaching program.