Biogenic amines are the amines found in the biological system with many vital functions and roles. First, let me describe what is an amine. Amines are organic compounds containing an amino group as a functional group. They are basically considered as a derivative of ammonia in …
Infobiochem
Q/A
October 17, 2016
Before telling you what are the main functions of polysaccharides in plants, I would like to mention polysaccharides first. Polysaccharides are carbohydrates that mean hydrates of carbon. The simplest formula for carbohydrates is Cn(H2O)n, where n can be 3 or more than 3. The simplest carbohydrates are …
Hormones are the first messengers that trigger the various biological and physiological processes inside the body. Among the various types of hormones, steroid hormones are important because of their hydrophobic nature. The main precursor of the steroid hormones is cholesterol which is why they are hydrophobic …
Analytical Biochemistry Analytical Biochemistry is another peer-reviewed ISI journal published by Elsevier. It was established in 1960 and articles are available in different indexing databases. Articles are published biweekly and are all in the English language. To know more about the mode of publication and the …
ACS Chemical Biology ACS Chemical Biology is a peer-reviewed ISI journal published by the American Chemical Society. The first issue was published in 2006. It covers research work at the interface of chemistry and biology. Journals are published in both versions; online and printed versions which are …
A short introduction about HMG-CoA reductase HMG-CoA reductase or 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme-A reductase is an endoplasmic reticulum membrane-bound enzyme. It catalyzes the conversion of HMG-CoA to mevalonate. This step, the formation of the mevalonate, is the rate-limiting step of cholesterol biosynthesis as well as the synthesis of …
Infobiochem
Q/A
April 29, 2016
Tryptophan aminotransferase is an enzyme that catalyzes the transamination of L-tryptophan. It requires pyridoxal phosphate as a cofactor and an amino group acceptor alpha-ketoglutarate. Tryptophan aminotransferase catalyzes the first step of indole-3-acetic acid (an auxin) biosynthesis and its product is indole-3-pyruvate. Indole-3-acetic acid is a plant growth …
Infobiochem
Q/A
April 29, 2016
Indole-3-pyruvate decarboxylase is an important enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of indole-3-acetic acid, a plant growth hormone. The indole-3-acetic acid biosynthetic pathway involving indole-3-pyruvate decarboxylase is called an indole-3-pyruvate pathway and indole-3-pyruvate is the key intermediate of this pathway. The first enzyme of this pathway is …
Infobiochem
Q/A
April 29, 2016
Tryptophan decarboxylase is an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of tryptophan to tryptamine. Tryptamine is a first-reaction intermediate of indole-3-acetic acid (a type of auxin) biosynthesis. Therefore, to study the tryptamine pathway of indole-3-acetic acid biosynthesis, it is necessary to check the activity of the enzymes …
Infobiochem
Q/A
April 28, 2016
The pKa of phosphate buffer can be calculated by using a mathematical expression. Phosphate buffer is an important buffer system used in biochemistry laboratories. Phosphate buffer is essential for experiments involving proteins and enzymes. It maintains the pH of the solution and also prevents a drastic …
Infobiochem
Q/A
April 28, 2016
What is a Salkowski reagent? Salkowski reagent is a formulation that researchers have developed for the determination of the concentration of indole-3-acetic acid. It consists of ferric chloride dissolved in concentrated oxidizing acid. It was originally developed by Salkowski in 1885 for the colorimetric determination of …
Infobiochem
Q/A
April 28, 2016
Ehmann’s reagent is a mixture of Ehrlich reagent and Salkowski reagent in a ratio of 1:3 (v/v). It is used to detect indole intermediates during thin-layer chromatography. This reagent is greatly helpful to detect the presence of different types of indole intermediate. However, standard indole compounds …