Cryo-EM reveals the structural basis of functional diversity in alcohol oxidase isozymes

As the global push toward a carbon-neutral society accelerates, understanding how microorganisms metabolize methanol with high efficiency has become increasingly critical. At the University of Tsukuba, researchers have applied cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to resolve the high-resolution three-dimensional structure of a key methanol metabolizing enzyme in yeast. Their work reveals that enzymes with nearly identical overall architectures can nonetheless perform distinct functions depending on environmental conditions.