Produced inhibition by ethanol of the acetaldehyde-NADH reaction, catalysed by the alcohol dehydrogenases from yeast and horse liver, was studied at 25 degrees C and pH 6-9. 2. The results with yeast alcohol dehydrogenase are generally consistent with the preferred-pathway mechanism proposed previously [Dickenson & Dickinson (1975) Biochem. J. 147, 303-311]. The observed hyperbolic inhibition by ethanol of the maximum rate of acetaldehyde reduction confirms the existence of the alternative pathway involving an enzyme-ethanol complex. 3. The maximum rate of acetaldehyde reduction with horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase is also subject to hyperbolic inhibition by ethanol. 4. The measured inhibition constants for ethanol provide some of the information required in the determination of the dissociation constant for ethanol from the active ternary complex. 5. Product inhibition by acetaldehyde of the ethanol-NAD+ reaction with yeast alcohol dehydrogenase was examined briefly. The results are consistent with the proposed mechanism. However, the nature of the inhibition of the maximum rate cannot be determined within the accessible range of experimental conditions. 6. Inhibition of yeast alcohol dehydrogenase by trifluoroethanol was studied at 25 degrees C and pH 6-10. The inhibition was competitive with respect to ethanol in the ethanol-NAD+ reaction. Estimates were made of the dissociation constant for trifluoroethanol from the enzyme-NAD+-trifluoroethanol complex in the range pH6-10.
