zymo-, zym-, -zyme, -zymic

Unleavened bread: This kind of azyme is used in certain eucharistic or church services.

Unleavened; unfermented: The scones and biscuits that Joan made were quite azymic which were made without any rising agents.

1. Relating to bread made without any yeast or other raising agent: Susan loved the azymous biscuits, especially when she put some cheese on them.
2. Referring to something that has been produced without fermentation: Greg learned that the azymous bread that he bought contained no yeast or leavening.

A substance in various body tissues that are capable of activating thrombin or an enzyme that acts on fibrinogen in blood causing it to clot: Cytozyme was the protein in Jane's body fluid that was responsible for stopping the red flow emerging from the cut in her finger when she used the knife to prepare the vegetables.

Relating to one of several complex proteins that are produced by cells and act as catalysts in specific biochemical reactions: Mary learned in her biology class at school that enzymatic reactions take place normally between 30°C.and 40°C.

1. A protein molecule produced by living organisms that catalyses chemical reactions of other substances without itself being destroyed or altered upon completion of the reactions: Doug learned about the importance of enzymes in that they were necessary for breaking down large molecules of fat, starch, and protein during the process of digestion.
2. A protein, or protein-based molecule, that speeds up a chemical process in a living organism: An enzyme acts as catalyst for specific chemical reactions, converting a specific set of reactants, called substrates, into specific products. Without enzymes, life as we know it would not exist.
3. Any of numerous proteins or conjugated proteins produced by living organisms and functioning as biochemical catalysts: There are at least 66 types of enzymes, including cholinesterase, coagulase, and histamines.

Enzymes are classified according to the recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee of the International Union of Biochemistry.

Each enzyme is assigned a recommended name and an Enzyme Commission (EC) number.

Enzymes are divided into six main groups, oxidoreductases, transferases, hydrolases, lyases, isomerases, and ligases.

The branch of biochemistry concerned with the properties, actions, and effects of enzymes: James B. Sumner, John Howard Northrop, and Wendall Meredith Stanley were all three scientists who made important discoveries in the area of enzymology in the 20th century.

The decomposition of a chemical compound catalyzed by the presence of an enzyme: Enzymolysis can be seen by the splitting or cleavage of a substance into smaller parts by means of cell-produced proteins which act as accelerators in action.

Any disturbance in the function of an enzyme: Enzymopathy, or a disorder of its activity, can be exemplified by a generic deficiency of a specific protein molecule in a person.

A ferment obtained from madder root, possessing the power of effectuating alcoholic fermentation in solutions of sugar: Erythrozyme is extracted from the underground organ of the herbaceous perennial plant and, after the treatment with the acid ruberthyrin, it is changed to sugar purpurin and alizarin.

A soluble ferment occurring in the animal body and is said to be accountable for the normal deterioration and synthetical processes: Jane found out in her biology class at school that the agent or substance termed histozyme is known to produce a zymotic action in the body parts.

An enzyme of the hydrolase class that catalyzes the hydrolysis of specific glycosidic linkages in peptidoglycans and in chitin: The lysozyme occurs in saliva, tears, egg white, and many animal fluids and catalyzes the breakdown of some bacterial cell walls.

The lysozymes exist naturally in egg white, human tears, saliva, and other body fluids, and it is capable of destroying the cell walls of certain bacteria and thereby acts as a mild antiseptic.

A microorganism which is supposed to act like a ferment in causing or propagating certain infectious or contagious diseases; a pathogenic bacterial organism: It was assumed in the 19th century that the microzyme was the cause of the zygotic disease and of contagious illnesses including typhus, smallpox, and measles.

The inactive form of an enzyme: A proenzyme, also termed zymogen, is found within a cell, which, upon leaving the cell, is converted into the active form, such as pepsinogen, which is converted to pepsin:

A type of serous cell resembling a pancreatic acinous cell and a gastric chief cell: Serozymogenic cells are found in the parotid gland of most mammals and the submandibular and sublingual glands of humans.