THE SPECIFIC EFFECTS OF MONOCHROMATIC LIGHT ON THE GROWTH OF YEAST

Abstract

An isolated strain of Yeast, derived from Fleischman's preparation, when exposed to monochromatic light responds quite differently to light of different wave-lengths. Slight retardation in growth by red and orange light, stimulation by yellow and green, and increasingly marked retardation in the blue and violet, characterize the effects of the mercury lines of the visible spectrum. There is a sudden transition to stimulation in the near ultra-violet. (λ 3984 Å). Stimulation continues at λ 3650 Å and characterises the region λ 2894 Å to λ 2700 Å, but otherwise the lines employed in this investigation retard growth.Generally the effect either of stimulation or retardation is greater when the control is one of rapid growth rate, but the reverse is the case at the red end of the visible spectrum.