The reconstitution reaction of Neurospora apotyrosinase

The reconstitution of Neurospora apotyrosinase was studied in the presence of Cu(I) or Cu(II) ions. The kinetics and the mechanism of reactivation were found to differ markedly for the two metal ions. Thus the reconstitution with Cu(I) was found to be very fast and complete following an all or none process; in contrast the reaction with Cu(II) proved to be rather slow and incomplete with the two Cu(II) ions binding with different rate constants.