Enzymes are protein catalysts that control metabolic reactions without being used up in the process. They have an active site that binds to substrates and transforms them into products. Enzymes are essential for many biological processes like digestion, homeostasis, photosynthesis, and respiration. They play key roles in breaking down food during digestion, regulating blood glucose levels during homeostasis, catalyzing reactions in the Calvin cycle during photosynthesis, and producing ATP during cellular respiration through the electron transport chain. Enzymes are vital for numerous metabolic pathways in living organisms.
Enzymes are protein catalysts that control metabolic reactions without being used up in the process. They have an active site that binds to substrates and transforms them into products. Enzymes are essential for many biological processes like digestion, homeostasis, photosynthesis, and respiration. They play key roles in breaking down food during digestion, regulating blood glucose levels during homeostasis, catalyzing reactions in the Calvin cycle during photosynthesis, and producing ATP during cellular respiration through the electron transport chain. Enzymes are vital for numerous metabolic pathways in living organisms.
Original Title
Enzymes and their importance in plants and animals
Enzymes are protein catalysts that control metabolic reactions without being used up in the process. They have an active site that binds to substrates and transforms them into products. Enzymes are essential for many biological processes like digestion, homeostasis, photosynthesis, and respiration. They play key roles in breaking down food during digestion, regulating blood glucose levels during homeostasis, catalyzing reactions in the Calvin cycle during photosynthesis, and producing ATP during cellular respiration through the electron transport chain. Enzymes are vital for numerous metabolic pathways in living organisms.
Enzymes are protein catalysts that control metabolic reactions without being used up in the process. They have an active site that binds to substrates and transforms them into products. Enzymes are essential for many biological processes like digestion, homeostasis, photosynthesis, and respiration. They play key roles in breaking down food during digestion, regulating blood glucose levels during homeostasis, catalyzing reactions in the Calvin cycle during photosynthesis, and producing ATP during cellular respiration through the electron transport chain. Enzymes are vital for numerous metabolic pathways in living organisms.
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Enzymes and their importance in plants and animals.
1. Principles of enzyme action
Enzymes control the rate of metabolic reactions. They are also catalysts, which speed up reactions and are not used up by the reaction they catalyse.
They are proteins in their delicate tertiary structure. Anything that disrupts this structure such as high temperature or change in pH will affect the enzyme activity.
Each enzyme has a pocket in its surface known as the active site. It is the same shape to combine with the substrate. The substrate binds to the active site forming the enzyme substrate complex. Then the substrate is transformed into product. The turnover number is the number of substrate molecules turned into product per minute. The lock and key hypothesis explains that only one substrate (they key) will fit into the active site. (lock). The induced fit hypothesis is when the active site changes shape so that the enzyme moulds itself around the substrate.
Enzymes are catalysts and lower the activation energy required for many of the hydrolysis reactions involved in metabolism.
2. Factors affecting enzyme action
Temperature Temperature effects enzyme activity. Increasing the heat gives molecules more kinetic energy so they move around faster. This means there would be more frequent collisions between the enzymes and the substrates and the rate of reaction would increase. However if the temperature exceeds the optimum temperature the enzyme becomes denatured. This is because there is too much energy causing the enzyme molecules to vibrate causing the bonds maintaining their tertiary structure to break. The enzyme unravels causing the shape of the active site to change so it can no longer fit with the substrate. PH Any change in Ph would also denature the enzyme because they can only work in conditions they have evolved in. Substrate concentration The greater the substrate concentration the faster the rate of reaction until the enzymes are working as fast as possible – i.e. all the active sites have been filled. At this point the rate of reaction can only be increased if you add more enzyme in Inhibition An inhibitor is a substance that slows down or even stops enzymes action. Competitive inhibitors have a shape similar to the substrate. Which allows them to enter the active site and get in the way so the substrate cannot enter. They both compete for the active site. If you add more substrate the effect of the inhibitor will be reduced. Non-competitive inhibitor bind to the enzyme away from the active site but changes the tertiary stricture and the shape of the active site so that the enzyme substrate complex cannot form. 3. Role of enzymes in digestion
Saprophytic digestion Green plants make their own organic molecules however other organisms need to obtain their food ready made. Extracellular digestion occurs when an organism secretes enzymes to digest the surrounding material. Bacteria and fungi feed by extracellular digestion and are known as saprophytes. For example saprophytic fungus grows on a piece of bread. It releases amylase enzymes to digest the starch into maltose and then absorbs the maltose.
Enzymes are found in the juices of the human digestive system.
Amylases – are found in the salivary glands and the pancreas- they hydrolyse starch into maltose Endpeptidases –pancreas – they cut long polypeptides into shorter ones by cutting within the chain Exopeptidases – pancreas – provide individual amino acids by removing them from the ends of polypeptide chains Lipase – pancreas – hydrolyses triglycerides into fatty acids and glycerol Maltose – pancreas – hydrolyses maltose into glucose.
These substances can then be absorbed through the epithelium of the gut into the blood and lymphatic system by a variety of mechanisms.
4. Homeostasis Enzymes are also involved in the regulation of blood glucose levels in a process called glycogenesis. When high levels are detected by the hypothalamus, beta cells respond by secreting insulin. Insulin fits with receptor proteins on liver and muscle cells. When inside the cells insulin activates an enzyme that catalyses the condensation of glucose molecules to glycogen which can then be stored in the cells cytoplasm.
5. Photosynthesis Enzymes also play a role in photosynthesis in particular the light independent stage- during the Calvin cycle. The first step in the cycle is when carbon dioxide combines with ribulose biphosphate. The enzyme rubisco catalyses this fixation of carbon dioxide. The cycle can then proceed to produce glyceraldehyde3phosphate which is then used by plants to make carbohydrates. In high temperatures the light independent stage would slow down due to it disrupting the enzymes involved.
6. Respiration Enzymes are also involved in respiration and the formation of ATP. During the link reaction pyruvate is used to make acetate. Acetate is then picked up by co-enzyme A which forms acetyl co-enzyme A. This enzyme then enters the Krebs cycle. During the krebs cycle coenzymes NAD and FAD remove the hydrogen and become reduced NADH and FADH. This is fundamental to the production of ATP in humans. As it is the re-oxidation of NADH and FADH that produces ATP in the electron transport chain. Metabolic pathways – photosynthesis and respiration – light independent reaction.
In homeostasis such as glycogenesis
In fertilisation – such as enzymes in acrosome head of sperm
In transcription / translation such as role of polymerase.
