Biology Chapter 5: The Structure and Function of Large Biological Molecules

What is the process by which monomers are linked together to form polymers?

Dehydration reaction

In a hydrolysis reaction, __________, and in this process, water is __________.

a polymer is broken up into its constituent monomers; consumed

The type of bond that forms to join monomers (such as sugars and amino acids) into polymers (such as starch and proteins) is a(n) __________ bond.

covalent

Generally, animals cannot digest (hydrolyze) the glycosidic linkages between the glucose molecules in cellulose. How then do cows get enough nutrients from eating grass?

Microorganisms in their digestive tracts hydrolyze the cellulose to individual glucose units.

In what polysaccharide form do plants store glucose to be available later as an energy source?

Starch

Which of the following molecules is a monosaccharide?

C₆H₁₂O₆

At a conference, the speaker's grand finale was sautéing mealworms (insect larvae) in butter and serving them to the audience. They were crunchy (like popcorn hulls) because their exoskeletons contain the polysaccharide __________.

chitin

Carbohydrates are used in our bodies mainly for __________.

energy storage and release

The polysaccharide that you are most likely to have eaten recently is __________.

starch

One characteristic shared by sucrose, lactose, and maltose is that __________.

they are all disaccharides

A polysaccharide that is used for storing energy in human muscle and liver cells is __________.

glycogen

Carbohydrates can function in which of the following ways?

Structural support and energy storage

Amylase is an enzyme that breaks down starch. Why can the same enzyme not break down cellulose?

The monosaccharide monomers in cellulose are bonded together differently than those in starch.

The subunits (monomers) in cellulose are linked together by __________.

glycosidic linkages

Which of the following components of a tossed salad will pass through the human digestive tract and be digested the least?

Cellulose (in the lettuce)

Lipids differ from other large biological molecules in that they __________.

are not truly polymers

Which of the following terms can be correctly used to describe compounds that do not mix with water?

hydrophobic

Nutritionally, saturated triacylglycerols are considered to be less healthful than unsaturated triacylglycerols. What is the difference between them?

For carbon skeletons of equal length, saturated triacylglycerols have more hydrogen atoms than unsaturated triacylglycerols do.

The lipids that form the main structural component of cell membranes are __________.

phospholipids