Many, if not most, enzymes can promiscuously catalyze reactions, or act on substrates, other
than those for which they evolved. Here, we discuss the structural, mechanistic, and …

The past few years have seen significant advances in research related to the 'latent skills' of
enzymes—namely, their capacity to promiscuously catalyze reactions other than the ones …

Evolutionary biochemists define enzyme promiscuity as the ability to catalyze secondary
reactions that are physiologically irrelevant, either because they are too inefficient to affect …

Introductory courses in biochemistry teach that enzymes are specific for their substrates and
the reactions they catalyze. Enzymes diverging from this statement are sometimes called …

Several contemporary enzymes catalyze alternative reactions distinct from their normal
biological reactions. In some cases the alternative reaction is similar to a reaction that is …

Highlights•Screening efforts have revealed enzymes with over 100 promiscuous
activities.•High-throughput screening for promiscuous activities can be accomplished in …

Highlights•Enzyme 'promiscuity space'is vast.•Functional innovation by divergent evolution
is easy.•Gene loss is also an important driver of enzyme evolution.•Evolutionary trajectories …

Enzymes catalyze a vast range of reactions. Their catalytic performances, mechanisms,
global folds, and active-site architectures are also highly diverse, suggesting that enzymes …

Molecular recognition between proteins and their interacting partners underlies the
biochemistry of living organisms. Specificity in this recognition is thought to be essential …

Highlights•Cooperativity and flexibility play important roles in enzyme evolution.•
Evolutionarily-important flexibility can be both structural or electrostatic.•Floppiness in …