Formal catalytic specificity as a possible criterion for recognizing protobiological systems
✍ Scribed by John Westley
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1972
- Weight
- 649 KB
- Volume
- 1
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0006-3061
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✦ Synopsis
Differences in formal kinetic behavior between simple thiol catalysts and an enzyme catalyzing the same sulfur transfer reaction suggest a basis for examining suspected primitive biological catalysts. The simpler catalysts, while inferior in both the positive and negative aspects of catalysis, display greater versatility than the enzyme in employing different catalytic modes with different substrates. The far greater catalytic power of the enzyme for some substrates is accompanied by added constraints on both the array of acceptable substrates and the modes of catalysis available. These differences give rise to more complex kinetic behavior in systems involving the simpler catalysts. The use of formal kinetic analysis in examinmg catalysts from systems in late chemical or early biological evolution is suggested.