Explain how the following mechanisms regulate enzyme activity.
b. Genetic control

Question

Explain how the following mechanisms regulate enzyme activity.

b. Genetic control

Accepted Answer

All right. Hello everyone. So this question is asking us which of the statements below best describes how enzyme activity is regulated by genetic control. And here we have four different entry choices labeled A through D. So throughout this video, what I want to do is go through each answer choice and distinguish between what type of control is being described in that answer choice. So just to clarify enzyme regulation is a process used by cells to either turn on or off enzymes as needed. In other words, activate or deactivate enzymes depending on the needs of that cell. So first off, we have option A here in the multiple choice which says that the enzyme is regulated by adding or removing groups on the enzyme polypeptide chains. So the vast majority of enzymes are proteins that are composed of polypeptide chains. So adding or removing groups from the polypeptide chain describes covalent modification. Because while since the vast majority of enzymes are proteins, proteins are very sensitive to their structure, the structure determines the function of that protein. So it makes sense that covalent modifying the structure of the enzyme is going to inhibit or even activate or increase its activity. So option A is covalent modification which means that it is not going to be correct here. Option C on the other hand says that a genetic regulator will bind to the allosteric site and can open or close the enzymes active site. So based on the information that we're given for option C, the fact that we're talking about an allosteric site means that we have allosteric control being described in option C. Now recall that the active site is the location on the enzyme where the reaction takes place. By contrast, regulators can bind to the allosteric site, which is not the active site to change the structure of the active site. This again can either activate or inactivate the enzyme itself, make it more or less effective. So C is allosteric control. D says that the end genetic product acts as a negative regulator of the enzyme in the first step. Now, option D describes something we call feedback control. So what does that mean? Well, let's say that we have an enzyme where we convert compound A into compound B and let's call this enzyme E one. So we have E one and A producing B. Now sometimes the concentration of B is going to affect the activity of the enzyme because if the cell decides that there is too much of B in solution, then the concentration of B can inactivate the enzyme. Essentially telling the enzyme that there is no need to make more of its product. There's already enough product. So that's a feedback loop, which means that option D is incorrect. Now, our answer is therefore going to be Option B, but let's talk about it regardless. Option B says that the production or synthesis of enzymes is controlled by hormones. So here option B is genetic control because genetic control of enzymes is when the synthesis of those proteins or enzymes is regulated by genes. This is especially important when enzymes are only needed at a certain point in development. So here hormones are the products of those genes and then those hormones go ahead to direct the effect the activity of these enzymes. So once again, our answer here is Option B the multiple choice and there you have it. So with that being said, thank you so very much for watching and I hope you found this helpful.

Explain how the following mechanisms regulate enzyme activity.
b. Genetic control

Verified video answer for a similar problem:

Key Concepts

Enzyme Regulation

Genetic Control

Transcription and Translation

Explain how the following mechanisms regulate enzyme activity.b. Genetic control

Verified video answer for a similar problem:

Key Concepts

Enzyme Regulation

Genetic Control

Transcription and Translation

Explain how the following mechanisms regulate enzyme activity.
b. Genetic control