L113: Biology Laboratory

Assignment: Find a peer-reviewed primary literature article (not a review article) that deals with one of the main topics covered in the exercise on yeast exposure to ultraviolet irradiation (see the description below).  A primary literature article is the original report in the scientific literature of a single research study, while a review article summarizes the current state of knowledge about a particular topic and is drawn from many relevant primary literature articles.  A primary literature article is organized into the following sections:  Introduction, Methods, Results, and Conclusions/Discussion. 

When you have found a relevant article, print it out and read/browse it, paying particular attention to the Introduction and, especially, the Abstract, which summarizes the entire paper in a nutshell.  Though you might not understand much of the paper, do the best you can and answer the questions below to the best of your ability. 

*Due by the beginning of lab for Week 4 (i.e., Jan. 28-31)*

Description of the Yeast/UV lab for WOS/Biosis Previews Search

During weeks 4 - 6 of L113, you will be doing an experiment involving the exposure of trp- yeast cells to short-wave ultraviolet (UV) irradiation.  These yeast cells cannot grow on a medium lacking tryptophan (i.e., SD medium) due to a mutation at the trp1 allele, but they can grow on a medium that contains tryptophan (i.e., SC medium). After spreading a concentrated yeast solution onto 7 SD plates and a dilute yeast solution onto 7 SC plates, you then expose each set of plates to short-wave UV irradiation for an increasing length of time (0 seconds for the first pair of plates to 120 seconds for the final pair).  The primary issues that you will be interested in addressing are whether short-wave UV irradiation has (either direct or indirect) mutagenic effects and whether short-wave UV irradiation causes a decrease in the survivorship of yeast cells.

By looking at the above description as well as looking through section D of your lab manual, you should be able to find key words / phrases to use in your search for an appropriate article.  After you have found an article, answer the following questions.

1.      Write both the in-text as well as the end-of-text citations that you would need if you cited this paper in your lab report (Name-Year format shown in Knisely pp. 77-79):

2.      In your own words, what is the general purpose of this study, i.e., what was the intent of the authors in publishing this paper?

3.      You will be handing in a copy of the article that you have chosen.  In the copy that you hand in, highlight the authors’ hypothesis OR goals and summarize the hypothesis or goals here:

4.      In one or two paragraphs, using your own words, indicate how the article is relevant to the exercise on yeast/UV irradiation.  Be specific.