Product 14285

Product Details

Explore the effect of temperature on gene expression in bacteria, and learn how genes are turned on and off in response to environmental conditions! Student lab kit provides a simple method to improve student understanding of the factors that control gene expression. Students incubate the nonpathogenic bacteria Serratia marcescens on nutrient agar at two different temperatures. The bacteria may be red, pink, white or colorless depending on whether the red pigment prodigiosin is produced. Several specific enzymes are required for the synthesis of this pigment. Although the bacteria will grow over a wide temperature range, the genes for these enzymes are only transcribed below a certain temperature. Kit includes enough materials for 30 students working in pairs, along with reproducible student handouts and complete teachers notes. S. marcescens culture must be ordered separately.