Department of Biology & Biochemistry, Unit Catalogue 2007/08 |
BB40048 Enzymes: mechanisms, evolution and control in integrated biological systems |
| Credits: 6 |
| Level: Masters |
| Semester: 2 |
| Assessment: EX 100% |
| Requisites: |
| Before taking this unit you must take BB20018 and take BB30046 |
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Aims & Learning Objectives: Aims: The fields of Genomics, Proteomics, and the new and currently developing area of Metabolomics, active and important as they are, provide only descriptive information about biological systems. Ultimately, a true understanding of biological organisms from a functional standpoint will require a quantitative approach. This course will address the functional aspect of enzymes from the fundamental aspects of their mechanistic behaviour and its basis in structure, through their evolution and how by using Control Theory, one can learn how they act in integrated biological formats. The course aims to provide a grounding in how to understand biological events by looking at biological organisms as integrated system. After taking this course the student should be able to: * Describe how genes and genomes have evolved to give the current plethora of enzymes. * Recognise the existence of gene families and relatedness between families of enzymes. * Describe how information on kinetics and protein chemistry and structure can be used to provide mechanistic evidence. * Explain general approaches and specific types of catalysis in the context of enzyme mechanism and their evolution. * Apply current knowledge of the relationship of protein structure, function and evolution to the engineering of enzymes. * Understand how to analyse integrated systems of enzymes in order to explain how biological organisms function and evolve. Content: Syllabus: * Chemical evolution and the origin of life. The RNA world. Evolution of enzymes: gene duplication, mutation and divergence, and adaptation and selection. * Enzyme mechanisms: methodology of elucidating enzyme mechanisms; relationship of enzyme structure to mechanism and function; specific, research-based case studies from a variety of departmental staff. * Control theory and regulation. How organisms maintain homeostatic states. Metabolic analysis and its application to biotechnology and disease. How metabolic systems evolve. Biochemical basis of dominance. |