Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello,

I am considering doing an experiment on the effects of carbohydrates on the growth of yeast. I was thinking of using yeast agar plates to grow the yeast in the first place, then add carbohydrates to the yeast on the petri dishes. I have searched the Internet to find the type of agar plate I should get for my experiment to grow the yeast, but I can't find anything. Do you have any recommendations on what kind of agar plate I should use to grow the yeast? Thank you for your help!

Hi! I'm not an expert on this but I wanted to respond to let you know we aren't ignoring your post. I have a feeling not many experts have checked the boards this week, or the ones who did didn't know how to answer your question.

I did find this information on our website about agar:

"Nutrient Agar will grow the largest number of different types of microbes - fungi and bacteria. Yet, not all bacteria can grow on these. Some find it too rich, and others find it deficient. The nutrient in this is beef broth, and some extracts from yeast."

Since yeast is a type of fungus, it might like nutrient agar. You can find out where to order the agar and more about it here: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... Agar.shtml

I also found a project about growing yeast that does not require agar plates: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentorin ... p009.shtml

Let us know if you have other questions!

Hi there,

I have never grown yeast on agar plates myself, but I know some people who have! I am going to ask them how they made their agar, and I will post back when I find out.

Cheers,
Heather

Here is an article by BD that discuss the different type of agar plates used in clinical microbiology for yeast identification. http://www.bd.com/ds/technicalCenter/in ... _Media.pdf

Michael

Hi,

This is a great idea for a science project! Yeast and other fungi grow well on media made with vegetables. Here is a website that includes a recipe for making potato dextrose agar. Just boil 200 grams of potatoes in one liter of water, and then add 10 grams of agar and 10 grams of the sugar you want to test.

http://www.disknet.com/indiana_biolab/b030.htm

Here is a website that describes an experiment comparing rates of respiration in yeast grown on different types of sugars:

http://www.csun.edu/scied/2-longitudina ... index.html

What is the purpose of your project? What sugars are you going to test? Do you know how you will measure your results?


Donna Hardy