engineering

Guanidinobutyrase

Guanidinobutyrase is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Guanidinobutyrase rather than just read about it. In short: In enzymology, a guanidinobutyrase (EC 3.5.3.7) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction 4-guanidinobutanoate + H2O ⇌ {\displaystyle \rightleftharpoons } 4-aminobutanoate + urea Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are 4-guanidinobutanoate and H2O, whereas its two products are 4-aminobutanoate and urea. This enzyme belongs to the family of hydrolases, those acting on carbon-nitrogen bonds other than pept…

Key takeaways

Guanidinobutyrase belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Guanidinobutyrase to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Guanidinobutyrase from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In enzymology, a guanidinobutyrase (EC 3.5.3.7) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction

4-guanidinobutanoate + H2O ⇌ {\displaystyle \rightleftharpoons } 4-aminobutanoate + urea Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are 4-guanidinobutanoate and H2O, whereas its two products are 4-aminobutanoate and urea. This enzyme belongs to the family of hydrolases, those acting on carbon-nitrogen bonds other than peptide bonds, specifically in linear amidines. The systematic name of this enzyme class is 4-guanidinobutanoate amidinohydrolase. Other names in common use include gamma-guanidobutyrase, 4-guanidinobutyrate amidinobutyrase, gamma-guanidinobutyrate amidinohydrolase, G-Base, GBH, and guanidinobutyrate ureahydrolase. This enzyme participates in urea cycle and metabolism of amino groups. It employs one cofactor, manganese.

References

Mora J, Tarrab R, Martuscelli J, Soberon G (1965). "Characteristics of arginases from ureotelic and non-ureotelic animals". Biochem. J. 96 (3): 588–94. doi:10.1042/bj0960588. PMC 1207192. PMID 5862400. Nguyen Van Thoai Thome-Beau F, Olomucki A (1966). "[Induction and specificity of enzymes of the new catabolic arginine pathway]". Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 115 (1): 73–80. doi:10.1016/0304-4165(66)90050-x. PMID 5936244. Yorifuji T, Kato M, Kobayashi T, Ozaki S, Ueno S (1980). "4-Guanidinobutyrate amidinohydrolase from Pseudomonas sp ATCC 14676: purification to homogeneity and properties". Agric. Biol. Chem. 44 (5): 1127–1134. doi:10.1271/bbb1961.44.1127. K; Kobayashi, Toru; Tabuchi, Akira; Shiritani, Yoshinori; Yonaha, Kazuo (1983). "Distribution of amidinohydrolases among Pseudomonas and comparative studies of some purified enzymes by one-dimensional peptide mapping". Agric. Biol. Chem. 47 (12): 2825–2830. doi:10.1271/bbb1961.47.2825.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Guanidinobutyrase

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Guanidinobutyrase claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Guanidinobutyrase before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Guanidinobutyrase ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Guanidinobutyrase

In research: Guanidinobutyrase appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Guanidinobutyrase in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Guanidinobutyrase is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics EC 3.5.3, EC 3.5 stubs, Enzymes of unknown structure, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Guanidinobutyrase outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Guanidinobutyrase in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Guanidinobutyrase means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Guanidinobutyrase out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Guanidinobutyrase in simple terms?

In enzymology, a guanidinobutyrase (EC 3.5.3.7) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction 4-guanidinobutanoate + H2O ⇌ {\displaystyle \rightleftharpoons } 4-aminobutanoate + urea Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are 4-guanidinobutanoate and H2O, whereas its two products are 4-aminobu…

Why does Guanidinobutyrase matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Guanidinobutyrase?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Guanidinobutyrase.