Maharashtra BoardEnglish MediumSTD 11 ScienceBiologyBiomolecules4 Marks
Question
How are enzymes named?
✓
Answer
$1.$ Enzymes are named by adding the suffix$-$ ‘ase’ to the name of the substrate on which they act e.g. protease, sucrase, nuclease etc. which break up proteins, sucrose and nucleic acids respectively.
$2.$ The enzymes can be named according to the type of function they perform.
For e.g., dehydrogenase remove hydrogen, carboxylase add $CO;$ decarboxylases remove $CO_2,$ oxidases helping in oxidation.
$3.$ Some enzymes are named according to the source from which they are obtained.
For e.g., papain from papaya, bromelain from the member of Bromeliaceae family, pineapple.
$4.$ According to international code of enzyme nomenclature, the name of each enzyme ends with an ase and consists of double name!
$5.$The first name indicates the nature of substrate upon which the enzyme acts and the second name indicates the reaction catalyzed.
For e.g., pyruvic decarboxylase catalyses the removal of $CO_2$ from the substrate pyruvic acid.
Similarly, the enzyme glutamate pyruvate transaminase catalyses the transfer of an amino group from the substrate glutamate to another substrate pyruvate.
Need a full question paper?
Generate a complete, print-ready paper with questions like this in minutes — across 16+ boards, with answer keys.