Hiking in the deserts of New Mexico you encounter a strangely shaped, entirely s

Question

Hiking in the deserts of New Mexico you encounter a strangely shaped, entirely smooth metallic rock. Oozing from the rock is a slime mold that you believe to be a new species never before seen (on earth). The mold fluoresces bright pink normally but when transported back to your laboratory and grown in culture media it fluoresces purple.

A. Which of the following is a viable catalytic hypothesis to explain the observed phenomena:

a) The florescent substance decays over time as substrate is converted to product with a violet color.
b) An enzyme produced by the organism cleaves a transition analog present in the media producing a blue pigment.
c) A competitive inhibitor in the media reduces the velocity of the reaction producing emittance at a reduced wavelength.
d) The concentration of the substrate in the media is too high for the enzyme to cleave and produce the pink color.

Explanation / Answer

The best answer is one which disrupts the activity of the enzyme that produces the pink color. Choice d does not make sense because too much substrate concentration would no have that effect. Choice a, the flourescent would not decay. Choice b, Just because a blue pigment is formed does not mean pink goes away and purple forms. Choice c is the best answer where a competitive inhibitor disrupts the enzyme from producing pink flourescence.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse H
• Subjects

---

---

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.