Phosphatases

Mercy, P D and Ravindranath, M H (1981) Phosphatases. CMFRI Special Publication (7). pp. 61-66.

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Abstract

The phosphatases are the group of enzymes of low substrate specificity and are characterised by the ability to hydrolyse a large variety of organic phosphate esters with the formation of an alcohol and phosphate ions. This group is composed of those enzymes which attack only monoesters of orthophosphoric acid. The alcohol esterified to the orthophosphoric acid, (HO)» P=0, may be a simple aliphatic alcohol, a polyhydric alcohol such as sugar or any one of a variety of aromatic hydroxyl compounds such as tyrosine. The phosphatases are not one enzyme but a group of related enzymes. In crustaceans in general, two types of enzymes are recognised : alkaline phosphatase and acid phosphatase. In Scylla serrata, the optimal activity of acid phosphatase is at pH 5.0 and that of alkaline phosphatase at pH 9.0 (Mercy, 1979). The probable function of the phosphatases is the transfer of the phosphate group from a donor substrate to an acceptor compound containing an (OH group). If the acceptor is water, the net effect is hydrolysis.

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