Concepts of Biology (BIOL115) - Dr. S.G. Saupe (ssaupe@csbsju.edu); Biology Department, College of St. Benedict/St. John's University, Collegeville, MN 56321 |
Spuds McSaupe Plays with Peroxide
Today our friendly tuber tester, Spuds McSaupe, will
demonstrate enzyme action. The reaction we will study concerns the
breakdown of hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. We can diagram this
reaction as follows:
2H2O2 → O2 + 2H2O
In vivo, this reaction is catalyzed by the enzyme catalase (technical name: hydrogen peroxide oxidoreductase). What is the substrate for this enzyme?_____________ What is the product(s) of this reaction? _______________.
Experimental Protocol:
Prepare similar-sized cores from a potato tuber
Place one core in a test tube containing one of the solutions listed in Table 1
Heat a core in a microwave for 30 seconds and then place it in the appropriate solution.
Record whether foam/bubbling results (-, +, +++)
Data:
Table 1: Effect of treating potato cores with various solutions | |
Treatment | Results (foaming: -, +, +++) |
1. water | |
2. water + core | |
3. H2O2 | |
4. H2O2 + core | |
5. H2O2 + microwaved core |
Conclusions/Questions:
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