General Biology Laboratory, Biology Department, La Sierra University

Laboratory Date(s) -Digestion & Metabolism: The Role of Enzymes Jan. 29, 2003
-Respiration Feb. 5, 2003

Abstract From the experiments we performed on sucrose and on goldfish we were

able to both directly (glucose production rate) and indirectly (gas exchange rate) measure
the effects of temperature on biological functions.

Introduction
The question that we examined in both experiments was what effects temperature had on
living organisms? In our first experiment we looked at the effects of temperature on
enzyme activity of sucrase to sucrose:
C12H22O11+ H2O--Sucrase C6H12O6 + C6H12O6
sucrose water glucose fructose

The definition of temperature is “a measure of the average molecular motion within a

material; at higher temperatures, there is more molecular vibration.” 1 Therefore, our
hypothesis was that as temperature rises the molecular activity of the substrate (sucrose)
and enzyme (sucrase) increases. This would then produce an increase enzymatic action
(collisions between enzyme and substrate) of the sucrase on the disaccharide sucrose,
causing an overall increase in the glucose/fructose production rate.2
Our second experiment was similar to this in that we once again tested the effects of
temperature of a biological process, specifically respiration in goldfish. The construct of
this second experiment was different, because we were working with a biological
organism therefore we could not perform a direct analysis of its chemical response to the
increase of temperature such as we had done in the previous experiment. In this
experiment we had to collect data from the goldfish indirectly by counting the number of
operculum movements exhibited by the goldfish in different temperatures. The
operculum is a the “large, protective, bony flap” that covers the gills which are located on
either side of the goldfishes head. Fish are able to “breathe” underwater because of their
gills which consist of finger-like projections that are one cell layer thick allowing for easy
gas absorption and diffusion similar to the human lung.34 Our hypothesis (lab group) was
that a decrease in temperature would produce a subsequent decrease in the rate of gas
exchange in a goldfish. The reason we suspected this to be true was because of the
effects of seasonal temperature changes in fish. Fish are cold blooded creatures meaning
that when it gets cold all of their biological processes run at minimum capacity
(metabolism, heart rate, respiration) how else could they remain alive while their habitats
are frozen.

Methods and Materials

In order to perform the first experiment you will first need to prepare the enzyme stock.
1
2

4
Note; gills differ from the human lung in that most do not reverse the direction of the oxygen flow (such as the lung) instead aquatic
animals are ventilated with a unidirectional flow of water. This adaptation is a response to low oxygen content of water in comparison
to the air, and the consequentially high respiration rate of aquatic animals.
1) Add 2.5 grams of dry yeast cells to 500ml of warm water and let that mixture sit
for ten minutes.
2) Once the ten minutes are over you will next need to homogenize your solution by
blending it for three minutes; homogenization releases the enzyme sucrase into
the solution.