Resumen de Anaerobic and Aerobic Respiration in Yeast: Small-Scale Variations on a Classic Laboratory Activity

Maria Koutsokali, Michael Valahas

• This activity describes a mini- to microscale setup that offers an affordable, reproducible, and accurate method to compare the aerobic and anaerobic respiration of Saccharomyces boulardii, a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. By using cost-effective methodology and standards, students are exposed to concepts such as stoichiometric relationships, yeast metabolism, reaction kinetics, and analytical testing. Yeast CO2 production is measured by reduction of mass (aerobic) and water displacement volumetric change (anaerobic). Data collected from the activity are used to compare the two modes of respiration. The activity presented has been tested in the context of advanced high school chemistry material and introductory undergraduate chemistry.