Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 17 August 2001:
Vol. 293. no. 5533, pp. 1264 - 1265
DOI: 10.1126/science.1064049
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Perspectives

ENZYMOLOGY:
Nickel to the Fore

Rudolf K. Thauer

Nickel was long thought not to be important in biology, but now several enzymes are known to depend on nickel for activity. In his Perspective, Thauer highlights the report by Dobbek et al., whose high-resolution crystal structure of a nickel enzyme reveals a novel nickel cluster in the active site. The structure offers surprising insights into the active site and the likely mechanism through which the enzyme harvests electrons from carbon monoxide.

The author is at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, D-35043 Marburg, Germany. E-mail: thauer{at}mailer.uni-marburg.de

Read the Full Text

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)