Essay on Abstract 1 Finale

The Effects of Varied Temperatures, pH Values, Enzyme Concentrations, and Substrate Concentrations on the Enzymatic Activity of Catecholase

Of the many functions of proteins, catalysis is by far the most vital. When catalysis is not present, most reactions in the biological systems take place very slowly to produce at an adequate pace for metabolising organism. The catalysts that take this role are called enzymes. Enzymes are the most efficient catalysts; they can enhance rate of reaction by up to 1020 over uncatalysed reactions. (Campbell et al, 2012).

Enzymes are biological catalysts, which speed up the rate of reaction without being used up during the reaction, which take place in living organisms. They do this by lowering the activation energy. The activation energy is the energy needed to start the reaction.

Background and Introduction: Enzymes are proteins that process substrates, which is the chemical molecule that enzymes work on to make products. Enzyme purpose is to increase the rate of activity and speed up chemical reaction in a form of biological catalysts. The enzymes specialize in lowering the activation energy to start the process. Enzymes are very specific in their process, each substrate is designed to fit with a specific substrate and the enzyme and substrate link at the active site. The binding of a substrate to the active site of an enzyme is a very specific interaction. Active sites are clefts or grooves on the surface of an enzyme, usually composed of amino acids from different parts of the polypeptide chain that are brought together in the tertiary structure of the folded protein. Substrates initially bind to the active site by noncovalent interactions, including hydrogen bonds, ionic bonds, and hydrophobic interactions. Once a substrate is bound to the active site of an enzyme, multiple mechanisms can accelerate its conversion to the product of the reaction. But sometimes, these enzymes fail or succeed to increase the rate of action because of various factors that limit the action. These factors can be known as temperature, acidity levels (pH), enzyme and/or substrate concentration, etc. In this experiment, it will be tested how much of an effect

These results shown from this experiment led us to conclude that enzymes work best at certain pH rates. For this particular enzyme, pH 7 worked best. When compared to high levels of pH, the lower levels worked better. The wrong level of pH can denature enzymes; therefore finding the right level is essential. The independent variable was the amount of pH, and the dependent being the rate of oxygen. The results are reliable as they are reinforced by the fact that enzymes typically work best at neutral pH

Within the experiment, pure catechol was mixed with different concentrations of catechol oxidase and the rate at which each solution produced benzoquinone was measured. The amount of benzoquinone made throughout the trials was measured by using a colorimeter to measure the level of “brownness” of the liquid. The colorimeter worked by shining a light through the liquid and then measuring that light on the other side to see how much of it was absorbed. In this experiment, absorbance of blue light was measured because blue light is absorbed by the color brown. The amount of blue light absorbance was measured every 15 seconds for five minutes. Because enzymes speed up reactions, more enzymes would cause the reaction to be even faster.1

The first experiment begun by filling a 600-ml beaker, almost to the top, with water. Next, a 10-ml graduated cylinder was filled to the top with water. Once water was added to the beaker and graduated cylinder, a thumb was placed over the top of the graduated cylinder. This would ensure that no water was let out and no bubbles were let into the graduated cylinder. Next, it was turned upside down and fully submerged into the beaker. Then, a U-shaped glass tube was attained. The short end of the glass tube was placed into the beaker with the tip inside of the graduated cylinder. Next, a 50-ml Erlenmeyer flask was received. After, 10-ml of substrate concentration and 10-ml of catalase/buffer solution were placed into the flask. A rubber stopper was then placed on the opening of the flask. After adding these, the flask was held at the neck and spun softly

After the substrate solution was added, five drops of the enzyme were quickly placed in tubes 3, 4 and 5. There were no drops of enzyme added in tubes 1 and 2 and in tube 6 ten drops were added. Once the enzyme solution has been added the tubes were then left to incubate for ten minutes and after five drops of DNSA solution were added to tubes 1 to 6. The tubes were then placed in a hot block at 80-90oC for five minutes. They were then taken out after the five minute period and using a 5 ml pipette, 5 ml of distilled water were added to the 6 tubes and mixed by inversion. Once everything was complete the 6 tubes were then taken to the Milton Roy Company Spectronic 21 and the absorbance of each tube was tested.

“Enzymes are proteins that have catalytic functions” [1], “that speed up or slow down reactions”[2], “indispensable to maintenance and activity of life”[1]. They are each very specific, and will only work when a particular substrate fits in their active site. An active site is “a region on the surface of an enzyme where the substrate binds, and where the reaction occurs”[2].

There are thousands of chemical reactions that occur in an organism that make life possible. Most of these chemical reactions occur too slowly on their own. Enzymes are protein catalysts that speed up chemical reactions in a cell. Catalysts are not changed by the reactions they control, and are not used up during the reaction. Enzymes therefore, can be used over and over again. Enzymes are large complex proteins made by the cell and allow chemical reactions to take place at the temperature of the cell. These catalysts are needed in only very small amounts because a single enzyme molecule can complete the same reaction thousands of times in one minute.

This strategy can be employed to study enzymes from other Gram-positive organisms with ease. It

An enzyme is a catalyst. Catalysts are known for speeding up the rate of reactions by lowering the activation energy of the biochemical reaction. (Reece et al., 2011)

Enzymes are large biological molecules responsible for the thousands of chemical interconversions that sustain life. They are highly selective catalysts, greatly accelerating both the rate and specificity of metabolic reactions, from the digestion of food to the synthesis of DNA. Most enzymes are proteins, although some catalytic RNA molecules have been identified. Enzymes adopt a specific three-dimensional structure, and may employ organic (e.g. biotin) and inorganic (e.g. magnesium ion) cofactors to assist in catalysis.

Enzymes are biological catalysts. Without them, biological reactions will not proceed in a reasonable rate. For example, without a series of digestive enzymes, it can take 20 years to digest a hamburger. Enzyme-catalyzed reactions proceed through an ES complex, in which the substrate binds to the enzyme, gets transformed into the product, and releases into the environment. For a specific enzyme, only one or a few different substrate molecules can bind in the proper manner and produce a functional ES complex. The substrate must have a size, shape, and polarity compatible with

Identified in the first half of the nineteenth century, enzymes are extremely proficient catalysts which catalyse synthetic as well as non-synthetic i.e. degradative reactions of organisms. Past few decades have seen swift advances in the field of genetics and protein engineering because of enzymes having great catalytic power, eco-friendly use, requirement of reduced energy, precise mode of action etc. These properties of enzymes and their application in various fields make them an important product to be used and produced commercially.