Metabolism (Photosynthesis and Fermentation)Ryan Jahansooz, Tyler Voss, Zac Foster Bio 001 Lab Section 16 10/1/2013Introduction: This lab focuses on metabolism. Specifically, it focuses on photosynthesis and fermentation of ethanol. Both of these topics are important and the knowledge that we gained from participating in this lab is sure to help us in all of our future endeavors in the field of biology. Based on what we read in the lab, we have hypothesized that fermentation will happen most effectively when there is a steady supply of resources as well as having a high temperature. As for photosynthesis, it made sense at the time that the plants that had the easiest access to light and CO2 would produce the most oxygen and glucose.In the first section of the lab, we reviewed photosynthesis, which is the process that chloroplasts go through to convert light energy and carbon dioxide into energy in the form of the sugar glucose. We used our knowledge of light to control which colors of light were available to the chloroplasts to learn which color produced the most energy. We accomplished this by placing elodea sprigs into a sodium bicarbonate solution and then wrapping the clear containers in varying colors of foil. After exposing the sprigs to light for twenty minutes, we recorded the change in solution level in each test tube to estimate the amount of oxygen produced. From this observation, we could determine which color was the most effective for photosynthesis.The next part of the section involved using bromthymol blue dye to determine the pH level of solutions containing elodea sprigs to determine the carbon dioxide content of the solution after either being exposed to light or shut in a dark location for an hour. The changes in dye color indicated which process used the most carbon dioxide and therefore underwent the most photosynthesis. With the focus of the section still on photosynthesis, we moved onto the next part, where we subjected the chloroplasts extracted from plant material to a process known as chromatography, which separated the pigments in the cells based on charge. We were physically able to see how far specific solvents traveled up the paper.The final experiment involving photosynthesis was set up to test for starches in the provided solutions. This was easily accomplished by dropping a small amount of iodine solution onto three spot plates, each one filled with a few drops of either distilled tap water, a glucose solution, or a starch solution. The color of the reaction allowed us to determine the what the solution was composed of.The second section covered fermentation. Fermentation is the process that cells go through to complete anaerobic respiration and convert glucose into ethanol. The procedure wasa simple case of mixing water, sugar, and yeast in three flasks which were then capped with inflatable balloons and stored in three separate holding devices and three differenttemperatures. One was placed into an ice bath at approximately four degrees C. Another was placed into a water bath at 21 degrees C, or about average room temperature. The final flask was kept warm at 40 degrees C. After eighty minutes, the circumference of the balloons was recorded to determine which temperature was.The second, third, and fourth parts of the fermentation section were very similar to the first in that it was a simple mixture of ingredients placed in a solution for eighty minutes followed by a measurement of the circumference of the balloon. The second tested under acidicpH values (3, 5, and 7), the third tested under akali pH values (7, 9, and 11), and the fourth was a test with sugar combined with 1g, 5g, and 9g of yeast mixed together and placed in water at 40 degrees C. The fifth and final test was also the same, only with yeast combined with 1g, 5g, and 9g of sucrose sugar and stored at 37 degrees C for 80 minutes. At the end of the time limit, the balloons were measured and recorded.Materials & Methods:The experimental procedures for this lab were adapted from a previously supplied protocol(Dulai, 2012).There were no severe deviations from lab protocol. Very minor cases would be imprecisedata taken from other groups who were responsible for parts one through four of section two.Results:The first section of the lab was composed of four sections, each focusing on one aspect of photosynthesis. The first was a test of how photosynthesis went under specific light conditions. Several tubes filled with a sodium bicarbonate solution and covered with different light filters were placed in front of a light source. After twenty minutes, the following data was gathered from each tube.Table One: Rate of Photosynthesis Under Specific Light ConditionsTest Tube Water Light ConditionsInitial Water Level (ml)Final Water Level (ml)Total Water Level Change (ml)1 Solution White .13 .14 .012 Solution Blue .1 .11 .013 Solution Green .27 .28 .014 Solution Red .03 .05 .025 Solution None .03 .04 .016 Water Only White .26 .26 NoneThe changes in water level were not drastic enough to come to any definite conclusions, but it issafe to say that the plant with only water and no access to carbon did not undergo photosynthesis at all.So, knowing that CO2 plays a huge role in photosynthesis, we moved onto the second part of the section, in which we used a bromthymol blue dye to measure the CO2 content of the solution that the plants were in. This time all plants had access to the air, but one tube in each pair did not have a plant, and only one pair had access to light. The results are displayed on table 2.Table Two: Carbon Dioxide Usage for PhotosynthesisTest Tube # Tube Conditions Initial Color Final ColorA Elodea/light Yellow BlueB Elodea/dark Yellow YellowC No plant/light Yellow YellowD No plant/dark Yellow YellowWe saw that after an hour the only tube that had any change was tube A. This was credited to the fact that it had access to the required ingredients to perform photosynthesis. The other tubes either did not have a source of light energy, or did not have a plant to produce oxygen. The change in color of the dye was due to photosynthesis producing oxygen.The next stage of the lab was the third part of the first section, which consisted of carefully applying a few drops of an organic solvent to a plant extract. The solvent extracted the different photopigments from the plant extract and allowed us to see which ones were the largest or most prominent.Table Three: Displacement of