Biochemistry: a cadmium enzyme from a marine diatom.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 15875011.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
The ocean biota contains a vast reservoir of genomic diversity. Here we present the sequence and preliminary characterization of a protein that is a cadmium-containing carbonic anhydrase from the marine diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii. The existence of a cadmium enzyme in marine phytoplankton may indicate that there is a unique selection pressure for metalloenzymes in the marine environment, and our discovery provides a long-awaited explanation for the nutrient-like behaviour of cadmium in the oceans.