Yeast Culture Lab

Introduction Yeast is a one-celled, microscopic organism, which is part of the fungi kingdom. Yeasts do not make up a single group (Smith & Smith, 2012). Yeasts use organic material as a means of making energy, which make them chemoorganotrophs (Smith & Smith, 2012). Carbon is procured primarily from hexose sugars, such as fructose and glucose. Yeast need either oxygen for aerobic cellular respiration or for species that are anaerobic, but also have aerobic methods creating energy (Smith & Smith, 2012). There are no species of yeast species that are known to grow only anaerobically. Yeasts thrive in an environment with a slightly acidic (Smith & Smith, 2012). The reproductive cycle of yeasts can be either asexual or sexual depending on the species. The most widely seen method of growth in yeast is asexual reproduction referred to as budding (Smith & Smith, 2012). Reproduction in reference to yeast depends on the species; the species can be both asexual by mitosis and sexual by budding (Smith & Smith, 2012). Consumption refers to use and the rate of use of something such as how a consumer, such as a primary consumer like a tree would use photosynthesis to make energy from carbon dioxide. Death in reference to a population is referring to the rate of death in that population (Smith & Smith, 2012).
Hypothesis
The primary goal of the yeast culture lab is to test a theory involving samples of yeast cultures grown in four conditions. The initial hypothesis is that yeast will undergo considerable growth in all environments but will show an increased rate of growth in a solution of sugar because yeast uses sugar as a source to generate energy naturally. The assumption is that this hypothesis is correct and that the yeast will grow quickly in each environment and,in particular, in the sugar solution.