Question

full name
lab section
part 3 - data interpretation questions. (6 marks)

1. you work for a biotech company that is trying to improve the potential of corn as a

biofuel. they pre - treat corn with cellulase, an enzyme that breaks cellulose into
glucose, and have asked you test whether this improves ethanol production by yeast
fermentation. your data is shown below.
figure 1. volume of carbon dioxide (ml) produced over time during fermentation of
carbohydrate sources, including sugar cane (saccharum officinarum), corn (zea mays),
corn pre - treated with cellulase by yeast (saccharomyces cerevisiae) and a negative
control. data is represented as means of three replicates, and error bars represent sem.
a) does pre - treating corn with cellulase increase biofuel production from corn? provide a
short, quantitative response. (1.5 marks)
b) is corn pre - treated with cellulase as good a biofuel as sugar cane? provide a short,
quantitative response, using your data to support your explanation. (1.5 marks)

Explanation:

a) Compare CO₂ volumes of corn vs. corn+cellulase.
b) Compare CO₂ volumes of corn+cellulase vs. sugar cane.

Answer:

a) Yes. At 20 minutes, corn produces ~2 mL CO₂ while corn+cellulase produces ~8 mL CO₂, so cellulase treatment increases biofuel production.
b) No. At 20 minutes, corn+cellulase produces ~8 mL CO₂ while sugar cane produces ~17 mL CO₂, so corn+cellulase is not as good as sugar cane.