Question

penicillin is hydrolyzed and thereby rendered inactive by penicillinase an enzyme present in some resistant bacteria. the mass of this enzyme in staphylococcus aureus is 29.6 kDa. if the Vmax for 1x 10⁻⁹ grams of penicillinase is 0.68 x10⁻⁹ mol/min. What is the number of penicillin molecules hydrolyzed per min?

Answer 1

Approximately 4.09 x10¹¹ penicillin molecules are hydrolyzed per minute by the enzyme penicillinase present in penicillin-resistant bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question revolves around the enzyme penicillinase produced by certain resistant bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus. This enzyme renders penicillin inactive by hydrolyzing it. Given the mass of penicillinase as 29.6 kDa and the Vmax for 1x 10⁻⁹ grams of penicillinase being 0.68 x10⁻⁹ mol/min, we can calculate the number of penicillin molecules hydrolyzed per minute.

To find the number of molecules, we need to use Avogadro's number (6.022x10¹⁺ molecules/mol). We can convert the given Vmax from moles to molecules using this constant.

0.68 x10⁻⁹ mol/min multiplied by 6.022x10¹⁺ molecules/mol equals approximately 4.09496 x10¹¹ molecules/min. Therefore, approximately 4.09 x10¹¹ penicillin molecules are hydrolyzed per minute by this enzyme.