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General Biology: Structure and Function of Large Biological Molecules

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Termini in questo insieme (36)

  • Four major classes of biological molecules

    Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids.

  • Difference between monomers and polymers

    Monomers are building blocks; polymers are long molecules made of repeating monomers.

  • Dehydration vs. hydrolysis reactions

    Dehydration removes water to join monomers; hydrolysis adds water to break polymers.

  • Simple sugar and sugar polymer terms

    Simple sugar = monosaccharide; sugar polymer = polysaccharide.

  • Most common monosaccharide

    Glucose is the most common monosaccharide.

  • Classification of monosaccharides by carbon number

    3 C = trioses; 5 C = pentoses; 6 C = hexoses.

  • Form of glucose in aqueous solution

    Glucose mainly exists in a ring form in water.

  • Bond connecting two sugars in a disaccharide

    A glycosidic linkage connects two monosaccharides.

  • Two major roles of polysaccharides

    Energy storage and structure.

  • Glucose storage in plants and animals

    Plants store glucose as starch; animals store glucose as glycogen.

  • Type of glucose linkages in starch and cellulose

    Starch has α-glucose linkages; cellulose has β-glucose linkages.

  • Why humans cannot digest cellulose

    Humans lack enzymes to break β linkages in cellulose.

  • Structural polysaccharide in arthropod exoskeletons

    Chitin is found in arthropod exoskeletons and fungal cell walls.

  • Why lipids are hydrophobic

    Lipids contain large hydrocarbon regions that do not mix well with water.

  • Components of a fat (triglyceride)

    One glycerol + three fatty acids form a triglyceride.

  • Bond formed between glycerol and fatty acids

    An ester linkage is formed by dehydration reactions.

  • Difference between saturated and unsaturated fatty acids

    Saturated fats have no C=C double bonds; unsaturated fats have one or more C=C bonds.

  • Major function of fats

    Long-term energy storage, cushioning, and insulation.

  • Structure of phospholipids

    Phospholipids have a hydrophilic head and two hydrophobic tails.

  • Phospholipid arrangement in cell membranes

    Phospholipids form a bilayer with heads facing water and tails inward.

  • Number of fused rings in steroids

    Steroids have four fused carbon rings.

  • Proteins that speed up chemical reactions

    Enzymes are proteins that act as catalysts.

  • Number of amino acids that build proteins

    Proteins are constructed from 20 different amino acids.

  • Variable portion of an amino acid

    The R group (side chain) varies among amino acids.

  • Bond joining amino acids in polypeptides

    Peptide bonds join amino acids via dehydration reactions.

  • Four levels of protein structure

    Primary (sequence), secondary (α helix & β sheet), tertiary (3D shape), quaternary (multiple polypeptides).

  • What determines protein function

    Protein shape determines its function.

  • Cause of sickle-cell disease

    A change in protein primary structure causes sickle-cell disease.

  • Loss of a protein's normal shape

    Denaturation causes loss of protein function.

  • Monomers of nucleic acids

    Nucleotides are the monomers of nucleic acids.

  • Flow of genetic information

    DNA → RNA → Protein.

  • Components of a nucleotide

    Nucleotide = base + sugar + phosphate group(s).

  • Purines and DNA sugar

    Purines = adenine & guanine; DNA sugar = deoxyribose.

  • Bond connecting nucleotides

    Phosphodiester linkages connect nucleotides in nucleic acids.

  • Base pairing in DNA

    A pairs with T; G pairs with C.

  • Strandedness of DNA and RNA

    DNA is generally double-stranded; RNA is generally single-stranded.