JCE Online Journal of Chemical Education
 | Subscriptions  | Software Orders  | Support  | Contributors  | Advertisers  | 

JCE Print
   Current Issue
 Previous Issues
 Supplements
 Search JCE Index

JCE Digital Library
   DigiDemos
 QBank
 SymMath
 WebWare

JCE Software
   Latest Releases
 Software & Video
 Downloads
 Support

Only@JCE Online
   JCE Online Store
 JCE HS CLIC
 JCE Discussion Forums
   Biographical Snapshots
 ChemEd Resource Shelf
 Featured Molecules
 Hal's Picks
 Project Chemlab
 Reviewed WWW Sites
 "Web-Ed" Articles

About JCE
   Features
 Publications
 Operations
 Outreach
 Contact Us


  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2001  > July  >
In the Laboratory
Determination of the Fatty Acid Content of Biological Membranes: A Highly Versatile GC-MS Experiment
Emeric Schultz and Michael Eugene Pugh
Department of Chemistry, Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg, PA 17815-1301
Cover
July 2001
Vol. 78 No. 7
p. 944
Abstract
The experiment involves the GC-MS of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) obtained from bacterial membranes. It takes about 2 h, from cell harvest to injection. This experiment is done in a lab course for non-science majors and in biochemistry. For non-science majors the focus is on GC-MS as a technique for fingerprinting and on the underlying basis of that fingerprinting. In biochemistry the focus is on the composition of membranes and how this changes with temperature--specifically how the ratio of saturated to unsaturated fatty acids changes to maintain constant cell fluidity. Combined with a parallel DNA experiment, the two major types of intermolecular forces important for the structure and function of biomolecules are compared. How this versatile experiment could be adapted in other chemistry courses is presented. The experiment has obvious appeal to biology majors, can be used to develop several important chemistry concepts, involves teamwork, and employs an important instrument. It could be used in the laboratory portion of a course other than biochemistry to fulfill the new ACS biochemistry requirement.
Supplement
Five experimental handouts are available.
*  Contents JCE2001p0944W.doc (MS Word)
*  Download
JCE2001p0944W.pdf

JCE2001p0944W.zip

JCE2001p0944W.sit
More Information
*  Citation
 Schultz, Emeric; Pugh, Michael E. J. Chem. Educ. 2001 78 944.
*  Keywords
 Biochemistry; Lipids; Chromatography; Laboratory Instruction; Intermolecular Forces; Mass Spectrometry
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 June 6, 2001
August 31, 2005
<< Previous Article Table of Contents Next Article >>
  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2001  > July  > Page 944


Subscriptions
 Subscription Info
 Order Forms

JCE HS CLIC

Our Secondary School editors work hard to distill all the JCE materials to produce a fraction of particular interest to high school teachers. We call it CLIC.
 JCE HS CLIC

Contributions Welcome
JCE welcomes your submission
 Contributors' Corner

Advertisers
In recent years we have worked hard to better match our advertisers with our readers. When shopping for chemistry education materials, visit our advertisers' WWW sites first.
 Recent Advertisers

Be An Ambassador
Take JCE along on your outreach missions. Copies of the Journal, guest access to JCE Online, our publications catalog, and more are available for your participants.
 Outreach with JCE

Comments to
jceonline@chem.wisc.edu		 Copyright © Division of Chemical Education, Inc., American Chemical Society.
All rights reserved.