Scientists studying the unusual alcohol tolerance of extremophilic Kamchatkacus

Question

Scientists studying the unusual alcohol tolerance of extremophilic Kamchatkacus slavicus isolated a novel form of alcohol dehydrogenase from this organism that showed maximal activity at 78.37 °C. Scientists then performed an experiment with a goal to establish the Michaelis constant of alcohol for this enzyme by performing initial velocity kinetic studies. Three series of rate measurements were performed by varying the concentration of alcohol between 0 and 60 ?M; each series was conducted at different fixed levels of NAD+. Because the institute's only computer, UT-88 computer could not perform non-linear regression, scientists plotted their data in double-reciprocal graph and got a visually pleasing set of straight lines that intersected exactly on the y-axis.

In less than 18 words, summarize what this graph tells about the mechanism of the enzyme and the Km of alcohol for this extremophilic enzyme.

Explanation / Answer

Information: 3 sets --> 0, 30 and 60 M

Note that axis are inverted, i.e. 1/x and 1/y

For 18 Words:

You can see how, as the ratio between 1/[alcohol] increases, the slope of the straight line increases, that is, rate of reaction decreases.

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