Retention of Configuration in the Non‐Darwinian Evolution of Cytochrome c

Neutral (non-Darwinian) evolution also has certain requirements to fulfill. This is demonstrated by the fact that 1, the prosthetic group of eukaryotic cytochrome c, from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, tuna, chicken, and horse is always the same of the four possible diastereomers. This explains the necessary retention of molecular properties so that, for example, two cytochromes c differing in 45 of 110 amino acid residues can exhibit very similar reaction mechanisms.