Understanding the Number of Different Substrates Used by Enzymes
Enzyme “promiscuity” and “monogamy” play a significant role in myriad biochemical reactions.
The Science
Enzymes with very specialized function maintain a higher flux, or processing rate, and require more regulation of their activities.
The Impact
These new results offer a means of translating genomic information into enzyme functional capabilities with particular relevance for microbes involved in biofuel production.
Summary
In biology, some enzymes are highly specialized and catalyze specific reactions with few or only one substrate while other enzymes are promiscuous and can catalyze reactions using a variety of substrates. This phenomenon has also been observed experimentally for microbes involved in bioenergy related processes. However, we don’t understand why, within an organism, some enzymes are highly specialized while others remain generalists. Recently Nam and co-workers have addressed this question using whole genome metabolic reconstructions and analysis, including dynamical simulations of environmental changes to understand microbial responses. The higher flux and higher regulation allows enzymes with very specialized functions to be more responsive and adaptive to environmental surroundings and changes then their less specialized counterparts. This work also illustrates that understanding environmental cellular physiology is greatly enhanced when using a systems biology approach rather than approaches that are focused on single enzymes simulations.
Contact
Dr. Nathan Lewis
Harvard University
nlewis@genetics.med.harvard.edu
Funding
DOE Office of Science Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program
Publications
Hojung Nam, Nathan E. Lewis, Joshua A. Lerman, Dae-Hee Lee, Roger L. Chang, Donghyuk Kim, Bernhard O. Palsson , “Network Context and Selection in the Evolution to Enzyme Specificity”, Science 10.1126/science.1216861 (2012).
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