Effect of caffeine on the growth rate of wild-type and PDC1 mutant Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Authors

  • Geoff J. McKendry
  • Angelica G. Reyes
  • Jastej K. Sidhu
  • Ryan P. Song
  • Daphne S. Xuan

Abstract

Caffeine is the most consumed drug by humans. In order to understand its effects we must look at the enzymes and pathways it affects to understand what consequences it may have on our own bodies. In this experiment, wild-type Saccharomyces cerevisiae and PDC1 mutant S. cerevisiae growth rates were compared for both control and caffeine-containing samples. As well, the proportions of wild-type S. cerevisiae and mutant S. cerevisiae growth rates in caffeine to their respective growth rates in caffeine-free media were compared. Using a c2 goodness of fit test we were able to show that there was a significant decrease in the growth rate of wild-type with caffeine compared to wild-type control (p<0.05) as well as a significant decrease in the growth rate of mutant with caffeine compared to mutant control (p<0.05).  A c2 goodness of fit test was also used to show that there was a significant decrease in the proportion of wild-type with caffeine to wild-type control compared to the respective mutant proportions (p<0.05). This indicates that PDC1 mutant S. cerevisiae is more resistant to caffeine than wild-type S. cerevisiae and that pyruvate decarboxylase may be affected by this drug.

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Published

2014-02-21

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Articles