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Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, Vol. 29 (6) (2001) pp. 245-249
© 2001 IUBMB. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S1470-8175(01)00097-2

Laboratory exercise

The pentose phosphate pathway in the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Kloeckera apiculata, an exercise in comparative metabolism for food and wine science students

Christopher C. Steel * csteel@csu.edu.au, Paul R. Grbin1 and Alan W. Nichol

National Wine and Grape Industry Centre, School of Wine and Food Sciences, Charles Sturt University, PO Box 588, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales 2678, Australia

Abstract

Comparative cellular metabolism can be a difficult area of biochemistry to teach in the undergraduate laboratory class. Student practicals involving animal tissues generally require approval from animal ethic committees, and the relevance for students whose primary interest in biochemistry is in the area of food and wine sciences, is often questioned. In this report, we present an undergraduate practical exercise in which glucose catabolism via the pentose phosphate pathway is compared in two types of yeast with direct relevance to the wine and food industries, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Kloeckera apiculata. The exercise is carried out as a demonstration to second year undergraduate students, studying metabolic biochemistry. It is of some value in that it illustrates comparative cellular metabolism in wine yeasts and introduces the students to the safe use of radioisotopes.

Keywords: Pentose phosphate pathway; Wine yeasts; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Kloeckera apiculata; Hanseniaspora uvarum; [1-14C]-glucose; Carbohydrate metabolism

*Corresponding author

1Current address: Department of Horticulture, Viticulture and Oenology, The University of Adelaide, Private Mail Bag 1, Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia.

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