Km

Km, or Michaelis constant,(worthington biochem, 2011) indicates the affinity of an enzyme for its substrate. In other words, how stable the enzyme substrate complex is. It can be found by plotting velocity against substrate concentration of an enzyme catalysed reaction. Km = to Vmax/2. A high Km value displays a low affinity and a low Km value displays a high affinity. The units of Km are molarity (M) (U.K answers, 2009).

1. Worthington Biochem, 2011, available online at http://www.worthington-biochem.com/introbiochem/substrateconc.html (last accessed 02/12/2011)

2. U.K answers, 2008, available online at http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071126082146AA0R5W2 (last accessed 02/12/2011)