The Effect Of An Environmental Variable On The Catalytic Function Of An Enzyme

Enzymes are biological catalysts, which means it decreases activation energy in reactions. The lower activation energy in a reaction, the faster the reaction rate. Many enzymes alter their shape when they bind to the activation site. This is called induced fit, meaning for the enzyme to work to its full potential it has to change shape to binding substrate. The location of enzyme’s activation site is on the surface of the enzyme, where the binding of substrates take place. Enzyme activity can be influenced by a variety of environmental factors. If the concentration of enzyme is low, and there is a great deal of substrate, then increasing enzyme concentration results in more molecules available to convert substrates to products. Thus, increasing enzyme concentration can increase reaction rate. If substrate concentrations are low, and many of the existing enzymes are idle because of a lack of substrate, then adding enzyme will have no effect on reaction rate. Enzyme concentration affects the enzyme activity, because the more enzyme concentration the faster the reaction rate, until it hits it’s limiting factor. When substrate concentration is increased, it also increases rate of reaction. Temperature plays an important

Amylase experiment # 2 was done to see how the pH affected the efficacy of the enzyme. First we collected all of the materials that were necessary to make this experiment. We needed five clean test tubes, the following standard solutions, 1% Starch Solution pH 3,1% Starch Solution pH 5,1% Starch Solution pH 7,1% Starch Solution pH 9,1% Starch Solution pH 11

Enzyme catalysis is dependant upon factors such as concentration of enzyme and substrate, temperature and pH. These factors determine the rate of reaction, and an increase in temperature or pH above the optimum will

pH - Enzymes also have an optimum pH level. The pH of a solution affects the enzyme's secondary and tertiary structures. These bonds make the shape of an enzyme's active site. So, if these bonds are broken, the shape of the active site changes and is distorted. If there is no active site, there is no reaction resulting in no products. If the enzyme is put in a pH that is very different from the optimum pH, it can cause the enzyme to denature.

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

As stated in the introduction, three conditions that may affect enzyme activity are salinity, temperature, and pH. In experiment two, we explored how temperature can affect enzymatic activity. Since most enzymes function best at their optimum temperature or room temperature, it was expected that the best reaction is in this environment. The higher the temperature that faster the reaction unless the enzyme is denatured because it is too hot. Similarly, pH and salinity can affect enzyme activity.

The purpose of this experiment was to determine (1) the reaction rate of an amylase enzyme in starch and (2) the environmental factors that can affect the enzymatic activity. The hypothesis, in relation to the enzymatic activity by variables such as the substrate concentrations, temperature, PH and chemical interactions on the rate of reaction, stated

Substrate concentration also affects the rate of reaction as the greater the substrate concentration the faster the rate of reaction and all the active sites are filled. At this point the rate of reaction can only be increased if you add more enzymes in to make more active sites available.

The objective of this lab was to develop a protocol to investigate the effect of an environmental variable on the catalytic function of an enzyme. More specifically, the objective was to perform an experiment in order to test the effect of pH on the function of the enzyme catalase.

“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].

Enzymes are natural catalysts that work from the ability to increase the rate of reaction by decreasing the activation energy of a reaction. (Blanco, Blanco 2017) An enzyme can do this 10^8- to 10^10 fold, sometimes even 10^15 fold. (Malacinsk, Freifelder 1998) The substrate will momentarily bind with the enzyme making the enzyme-substrate complex, of which the shape of the substrate is complimentary to the shape of the active site on the enzyme it is binding with. There are two main theories as to how an enzymes and substrates interact, the lock-and-key model and induced fit theory. The lock-and-key model suggests that the enzyme has a specific shape that fits the substrate and only that substrate. The induced fit theory says the active site and substrate are able to change shape or distort for the reaction to take place with (Cooper,

Almost all enzymes need specific conditions for them to function. The conditions include temperature, pH level, and concentration of salt. Enzymes have optimal conditions. If they are changed, the enzyme may denature and deactivate. If that happens, the enzyme would not be able to catalyze the reaction, and the reaction rate would decrease (Worthington 2010).

To study the effects of temperature, pH, enzyme concentration, and substrate concentration there were certain steps that were followed in order to conduct this experiment. Each factor had a separate procedure to follow to find how each had a different effect on the enzyme.

There are three factors that will alter an enzyme: temperature, pH and salt. All three will change the structure of the enzyme by denaturation and rendering it useless when a drastic change occurs from levels that are normal. A slight alteration can speed up reaction to certain saturation or slow the process of reaction.

The Effect of pH on the Activity of the Enzyme Amylase Aim :- To find the effect of pH on the activity of the enzyme amylase. An enzyme is a type of protein found in all living cells. Enzymes act as biological catalysts, breaking down substrates without needing a high temperature, allowing all the chemical reactions of metabolism to take place, regulating the speed at which they progress, lowering the activation energy and providing a means of controlling individual biochemical pathways.