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The First Cadmium‐Specific Enzyme
Author(s) -
Strasdeit Henry
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/1521-3773(20010216)40:4<707::aid-anie7070>3.0.co;2-0
Subject(s) - carbonic anhydrase , cadmium , zinc , chemistry , enzyme , biochemistry , organic chemistry
A positive biological function of the element cadmium has been established for the first time in a marine diatom which synthesizes a special cadmium carbonic anhydrase when there is a zinc deficiency. Also new is the finding that β ‐carbonic anhydrases of plants contain {Zn(N⋅His)(S⋅Cys) 2 L} centers (L=OH 2 , O 2 C⋅Asp). The picture shows such a center and—greatly simplified—the probable mechanism of CO 2 hydration. It remains to be seen how closely analogous to this the cadmium center of the cadmium carbonic anhydrase is.