I can't understand the enzyme commission (ec) topic

Dr. sharad agrawal

Dear, The topic is a bit lengthy. It is tough to explain this via message. Still I will give a try. An EC number is group of four numbers separated by periods in papers discussing enzymes…something like this: EC 1.1.2.1. EC numbers are assigned by the Nomenclature Committee of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The EC numerical nomenclature classifies enzymes based on the overall reaction catalyzed: it does not identify individual enzymes but rather classes of enzymes catalyzing similar reactions. Since most enzymes have more than one (and often many) common names, the use of EC numbers and/or EC-approved names allows us to know exactly which enzyme is actually being referred to. The first digit of the EC classification code denotes the general type of reaction catalyzed by the enzyme and ranges from one to six (1. Oxidoreductase, 2. Transferase, 3. Hydrolase, 4. Lyase, 5. Isomerase, 6. Ligase) The series of three numbers that follow this further define and narrow the details of the reaction type.  The second and third numbers are the enzyme’s sub-class and sub-sub-class, respectively, and describe the reaction with respect to the compound, group, bond or product involved in the reaction. Hope this helps.