Abstract
The porphyrins, purines and pyrimidines are compounds with nitrogen-containing heterocyclic ring systems essential to the primary biochemical processes which maintain life. Without the porphyrin derivative, chlorophyll, there would be no de novo synthesis of sugars and therefore no energy to carry out the biochemical reactions of higher plants and animals. The nucleic acids, derivatives of purines and pyrimidines, are even more important to life, as without these compounds there would be no replication of protein molecules and no transmittance of heredity. Porphyrins, purine and pyrimidine derivatives are also involved in the prosthetic groups of many enzymes. A prosthetic group is the non-protein component of an enzyme which is firmly bound to the protein or apoenzyme, the complete complex forming a haloenzyme. More loosely bound non-protein components are known as coenzymes. A purine derivative is involved in the important complex, coenzyme A.
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© 1981 Margaret L. Vickery and Brian Vickery
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Vickery, M.L., Vickery, B. (1981). Porphyrins, Purines and Pyrimidines. In: Secondary Plant Metabolism. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-86109-5_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-86109-5_10
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