Question

Lysozyme is an enzyme that breaks down bacterial cell walls and is found in your tears, mucus, and saliva. A mutation occurs in the gene for lysozyme that results in a lysine (a positively charged amino acid) being substituted for an arginine (also a positively charged amino acid). Do you think that the mutant lysozyme will function similarly to the normal lysozyme?A.) yes,because protein function stays the same no matter what mutations occur.
B.) no, because all changes in protein primary sequence result in functional differences
C.) no, because changing lysine to arginine will cause the protein to denature.
D.) yes, because both lysine and arginine are positievly charged to the teriary structure and therefore function should be similar.

Answer 1

Answer:

D) yes, because both lysine and arginine are positively charged to the tertiary structure and therefore function should be similar.

Explanation:

The lysine, histidine and the arginine are positively charged amino acids as their pkA is higher and shows high affinity to bind the protons as a result of which they take positive charge.

The lysine amino acid is involved in the formation of the lysosomes and if a mutation in the gene which forms the lysosomes take place and lysine is substituted by the arginine then the mutant lysosomes will be as functional as the normal lysosomes.

Thus, Option-D is correct.