Biochemistry Exam Review

Flashcards for Biochemistry Exam Review

What elements make up organic molecules?

The primary elements that make up organic molecules include carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur.

What is a Covalent bond?

A type of chemical bond characterized by the sharing of electrons between atoms.

What is Electronegativity?

A measure of the ability of an atom in a chemical compound to attract electrons.

What are polar molecules?

Molecules with an uneven distribution of charge, resulting in distinct positive and negative regions.

What are Intermolecular Forces?

Attractive forces between molecules, influencing physical properties like boiling point and surface tension.

What are Hydrogen bonds?

A relatively strong type of intermolecular force where a hydrogen atom covalently bonded to a highly electronegative atom (like oxygen or nitrogen) is attracted to another electronegative atom.

What are the properties of water?

Cohesion: attraction between water molecules; Adhesion: attraction between water and other substances; Surface tension: the property of the surface of a liquid that allows it to resist an external force; High heat capacity: the amount of heat required to change its temperature; Density: mass per unit volume

What are Functional Groups?

Specific groups of atoms within molecules that have characteristic properties, regardless of the other atoms present in the molecule.

What are the types of reactions?

Dehydration: removal of water; Hydrolysis: addition of water; Neutralization: a reaction in which an acid and a base react; Redox: a type of chemical reaction that involves a transfer of electrons between two species.

What are Monosaccharides (give examples)?

Simple sugars like glucose, fructose, and galactose.

What are Disaccharides (give examples)?

Sugars composed of two monosaccharides linked together, like maltose, sucrose, and lactose.

What are Polysaccharides (give examples)?

Complex carbohydrates made up of many monosaccharides, like starch, glycogen, cellulose, and chitin.

What is an amino acid?

The monomer of a protein (carbon backbone, amino group, hydrogen, carboxyl group, R group)

What are the Levels of Protein Structure?

Primary: sequence of amino acids; Secondary: local folding patterns (alpha helices and beta sheets); Tertiary: overall 3D structure; Quaternary: arrangement of multiple polypeptide chains

What is Protein denaturation?

Loss of a protein's native structure, often due to heat or pH change.

What are Enzymes?

Proteins that catalyze (speed up) biochemical reactions by lowering the activation energy.

What is the Substrate and active site?

The specific region of an enzyme that binds the substrate and where catalysis occurs.

What is Allosteric Regulation?

Activation: allows the enzyme to work; Inhibition: won’t let substrate attach

What is Feedback inhibition?

A regulatory mechanism where the end product of a pathway inhibits an earlier step in the pathway.

What are Triglycerides (basic structure)?

Glycerol + 3 fatty acids, Includes saturated or unsaturated

What are Phospholipids (basic structure and function)?

A lipid containing a phosphate group attached to a glycerol backbone with two fatty acid tails; important component of cell membranes with a phosphate head (polar, hydrophilic), fatty acid tail (nonpolar, hydrophobic)

What are Sterols (steroids) (characteristic shape)?

A type of lipid characterized by a four-ring structure; examples include cholesterol and steroid hormones.

What are waxes (characteristic shape)?

A type of lipid composed of long-chain fatty acids esterified to long-chain alcohols; function and examples

What are the steps of Cellular Respiration?

Glycolysis, Pyruvate Oxidation, Krebs Cycle, ETC

What are the types of Anaerobic Respiration?

Lactate fermentation and Ethanol fermentation

What are the steps of Photosynthesis?

Light-dependent reaction and Light-independent reaction

How is light energy captured in the the light-dependent reactions?

PSII and PSI

What is Photorespiration?

What is happening with RUBISCO?

How do C4 plants and CAM plants work?

Plants fight transpiration.

What is DNA replication?

The process of making a copy of DNA.

What happens during Transcription?

mRNA, initiation, elongation, termination, modification (introns/exons/cap and tail)

What kinds of Mutations can occur?

point mutations (substitutions, deletion, insertion), silent/nonsense/missense/frameshift mutations, large scale mutations, causes of mutations (spontaneous vs. induced)

What happens during Translation?

structure/function of tRNA, wobble hypothesis, ribosome binding sites, phases of translation (initiation, elongation, termination)

How is Gene Expression controlled?

lac operon and trp operon in prokaryotes

What are Recombinant DNA examples?

PCR, gel electrophoresis

What is a codon?

A sequence of three nucleotides that forms a unit of genetic code in a DNA or RNA molecule.

What is an anti-codon?

A sequence of three nucleotides forming a unit of genetic code in a transfer RNA molecule, corresponding to a complementary codon in messenger RNA.

What is polymerase?

An enzyme involved in DNA replication.

What is helicase?

An enzyme that separates double-stranded DNA into single strands.

What does topoisomerase do?

relieves tension in DNA during unwinding

What does helicase do?

separates the two strands of DNA

What do single-stranded binding proteins (SSBs) do?

keep newly separated strands of DNA apart

What does DNA polymerase III do?

responsible for building new DNA strands during replication

What do Okazaki fragments do?

short length of DNA produced during synthesis of lagging strand

What does DNA polymerase I do?

removes RNA primers

What is the lagging strand?

new DNA strand synthesized in fragments

What is the leading strand?

new DNA strand which is synthesized continuously

What is the template strand?

The strand used to replicate DNA

What does DNA ligase do?

Removes gaps in between Okazaki fragments

Define homeostasis.

Maintaining a stable internal environment.

Terms associated with positive and negative feedback loops.

Sensor, control center and effector

What are the divisions of the nervous system?

CNS vs PNS o Afferent vs. efferent o Somatic vs. autonomic o Sympathetic vs. parasymphathetic

What are the types of nerve signals?

Chemical vs. electrical synapse

What are the stages of the action potential?

excitation, depolarization, repolarization, hyperpolarization

How do drugs affect synpatic transmissions?

Mimic/interfere with neurotransmitters

Describe how hormones move.

Hormones move around the body and how they are received at cells

What are the 2 classes of hormones? (steroid hormones vs. protein hormones)

steroid hormones vs. protein hormones

What are the Parts of the endocrine system?

hypothalamus, pituitary gland, etc.

What are examples glands that help to regulate our body with their respective hormone responses?

thyroid gland, the adrenal gland, and the pancreas