This is one of the purposes of this lab. Three separate projects will investigate the influence of temperature, salt concentration and pH on enzymatic activity. In addition, enzyme assays are useful in interpreting the physiology of organisms by localizing and characterizing enzyme production. This is what the last groups will approach. They will determine how much amylase activity is found in human saliva , and investigate the variability of amylase activity from person to person .
Amylase is found in most organisms and plays a key role in the digestion of complex carbohydrates.
Studies of its function in the digestive system have been aided by the identification of mutant strains of Drosophila with no or limited expression of the amylase in their digestive tract. One novel method screens individual larval flies by introducing a color changing substrate into the fly food. The substrate is eaten along with the culture media and exposed to the enzymes of the digestive system. In a normal fly, there is amylase present and the gut turns blue as the dye is released. As the fly defecates, the media around it turns blue.