Explain how a change in the primary structure may result in a non functional enzyme

A change in the primary structure means there has been a change in the amino acid sequence.This may cause different hydrogen bonding to occur, leading to a different secondary structure.This may lead to different folding due to different hydrogen, ionic and disulphide bridge interactions. This may lead to a different tertiary structure, and therefore a different active site shape.Therefore the active site may no longer be complimentary to the substrate meaning that enzyme substrate complexes cannot form. Therefore, the enzyme is not functional.
This is a very common style of A level question which the student should understand how to answer. Underlined are the key words that a mark scheme is looking for.

SS

Related Biology A Level answers

All answers ▸

Cystic fibrosis is an autosomal recessive condition. In a population, 0.04% of individuals have the disease. Use the Hardy-Weinberg equation to calculate the number of carriers of cystic fibrosis.


How would you test for the presence of a non-reducing sugar?


Describe each stage of mitosis


As the volume of blood in the ventricles of the heart increases, with all other factors constant, stroke volume increases till a point. Explain why. (5)