Biological complexity:tiny enzyme changes, huge new function (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, May 07, 2021, 21:42 (1296 days ago) @ David Turell

Changing a few amino acids and enzymes functional ability is dramatically altered:

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-tiny-amino-acid-differences-enzymes.html

"Just a few changes to an enzyme's amino acids can be enough to dramatically change its function, enabling microbes to inhabit wildly different environments.

"University of Queensland microbiologist Associate Professor Ulrike Kappler, led by an international team of researchers, made this discovery when investigating how Haemophilus influenzae bacteria colonize the human respiratory system.

"'This disease-causing bacterium is supremely adapted to living in humans, so much so that they cannot survive anywhere else," Dr. Kappler said.

"'It turns out that one enzyme, MtsZ, is the key player in this adaptation.

"'But, surprisingly, close relatives of this protein, which promotes Haemophilus survival exclusively inside humans, help other species of bacteria to survive exclusively in lakes.

"'How could closely related enzymes help one bacterial species live exclusively in humans and another to live only in lakes?

"'The answer is a matter of minute amino acid changes."

"The research shows that a sequence difference of just three amino acids, a difference of less than 0.25 percent of the MtsZ enzyme sequence, changes the functionality of the enzyme between bacteria living in lakes compared with those living in humans.

***

"'The slight changes in this enzyme enable the lake-dwelling bacteria to live on decaying algae and generate energy.

"'Contrast this with Haemophilus, which uses MtsZ to scavenge amino acids from the human body and use them for bacterial growth and replication."

Comment: In the biochemistry of life God designed a system that is easily altered. Just change a proteins fold and results in a different function appear.