The effect of UV radiation on the survival of yeast and its implication to a real-life situation

 

Allison R. D’Costa & Irma Santoro

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2009, Volume 30

Abstract

In this 4-week laboratory module, students expose yeast cells from “wild-type” and “unknown” strains to different amounts of UV radiation, and then measure the percent survival of these cells as an estimate of the amount of UV. The “unknown” is a rad1 yeast mutant strain, which is hypersensitive to UV radiation due to a mutation in a DNA repair gene (Friedberg, 1998, Friedberg, 2001, Tomkinson, 1993). Next, working in groups and using information from the previous experiment, students design an experiment using survival of yeast to test the effect of a protective factor such as sunglasses, sunscreen, etc., against UV. To help students see a connection between their experiments and a real-life situation, students read a scene from a case study at the start of each laboratory. It is story about a child with Xeroderma Pigmentosa (XP), a disease caused by mutations in a number of genes involved in DNA repair, some of which have homologs in yeast (Kraemer, 2008, Sijbers, 1996).

Keywords:  yeast, ultraviolet

University of Toronto, Mississauga (2008)