What is the Most Common Enzyme Reaction in the World?

Question

Since I am in high school i need simple answer

Answer 1

The most common are reductions....for example, enzymes that are oxioreductases. They basically transfer electrons from one molecule to another. Here's are example:

Pi + glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate + NAD+ → NADH + H+ + 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate

These enzymes are most often used to regulate metabolic processes in the body...hence we need all kinds!

Answer 2

Enzymes are protiens that exist in cells to reduce the energy reqired to have vital chemical reactions.

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzymes
"They also generate movement, with myosin hydrolysing ATP to generate muscle contraction and also moving cargo around the cell as part of the cytoskeleton."

The most common enzymes would be those that use water to break up molecules since both plants and animals do this.
These are E3 enzymes.

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EC_number
"The Enzyme Commission number (EC number) is a numerical classification scheme for enzymes, based on the chemical reactions they catalyze. As a system of enzyme nomenclature, every EC number is associated with a recommended name for the respective enzyme.

Strictly speaking, EC numbers do not specify enzymes, but enzyme-catalyzed reactions. If different enzymes (for instance from different organisms) catalyze the same reaction, then they receive the same EC number. By contrast, UniProt identifiers uniquely specify a protein by its amino acid sequence."

Here is a list of enzymes by their EC number: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_enzymes

Since even viruses have polypeptide chains I would say that Protease is one of the most common enzymes. However, it is not the only enzyme that makes DNA work.

- protease is any enzyme that conducts proteolysis, that is, begins protein catabolism by hydrolysis of the peptide bonds that link amino acids together in the polypeptide chain. Two well known polypeptide chains are RNA and DNA which all plants and animals have (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peptidase).
- Lipase is an enzyme that can be found in every creature from viruses to humans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipase)
- Amylase is used to break down starch and both plants and animals use starch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amylase).

For animals ATP is responsible for muscle movents and all animals except for a few simple ones use ATP to operate their bodies. The ones that are just as common would be those responsible for brain function since the nervous system is always working to control muscles like the heart.

Answer 3

My money is on the fixation of carbon dioxide to ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) by rubisco, because rubisco is often described as the most abundant protein on Earth and rubisco's turnover number is reasonably high.