Question

If an enzyme has a single optimal temperature, then an organism might have difficulty dealing with an environment with wide temperature variation. What adaptive advantage is there in having repetitive enzyme systems (i.e., more than one enzyme to catalyze the same reaction) that we know many organisms have?

Answer 1

Having a repetitive enzyme system would allow more than one enzyme to catalyze a particular reaction. If one of the types of enzyme is not able to perform its function due to temperature or any other factor, then another kind of enzyme would be able to catalyze the reaction. Hence, having repetitive enzyme systems is very effective in carrying out the metabolic functions of the body even when conditions are not favourable.