Oxidase
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An oxidase is any enzyme that catalyzes an oxidation/reduction reaction involving molecular oxygen (O2) as the electron acceptor. In these reactions, oxygen is reduced to water (H2O) or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The oxidases are a subclass of the oxidoreductases.
An important example is cytochrome c oxidase, the key enzyme that allows the body to employ oxygen in the generation of energy and the final component of the electron transfer chain. Other oxidases include glucose oxidase, monoamine oxidases, cytochrome P450 oxidases, NADPH oxidase, Xanthine oxidase, L-gulonolactone oxidase, laccase.
In microbiology, the oxidase test is used as a phenotypic character for the identification of bacterial strains; it determines whether a given bacterium produces cytochrome oxidases (and therefore utilizes oxygen with an electron transfer chain). Bacteria that can or must utilize oxygen are called (facultative) aerobic bacteria.
