BIOMOLECULES AND ENZYMES

Detailed explanation-1: -pH: Each enzyme has an optimum pH range. Changing the pH outside of this range will slow enzyme activity. Extreme pH values can cause enzymes to denature. Enzyme concentration: Increasing enzyme concentration will speed up the reaction, as long as there is substrate available to bind to.

Detailed explanation-2: -At very high or very low pH’s, these bonds within the enzyme can be disrupted, and it can lose its shape. If it loses its shape, the active site will probably be lost completely. This is essentially the same as denaturing the protein by heating it too much.

Detailed explanation-3: -Denaturation can also be caused by changes in the pH which can affect the chemistry of the amino acids and their residues. The ionizable groups in amino acids are able to become ionized when changes in pH occur. A pH change to more acidic or more basic conditions can induce unfolding.

Detailed explanation-4: -When an enzyme is in a non-optimum pH, the differing proportion of hydrogen ions (which cause changing pH)) will affect those bonds which contain a charge. These are the ionic and hydrogen bonds. Extreme pHs can therefore cause these bonds to break.

Detailed explanation-5: -Yes, a low pH can also denature an enzyme. It doesn’t matter if it is a higher pH than normal or a lower pH than normal; if there is a pH change then it will change the shape of the active site and render the enzyme useless.