Biological Molecules

Flashcards about biological molecules, including carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. Also covers monomers, polymers, metabolism, and specific examples of carbohydrates, cellulose, starch, glycogen and chitin.

What are the molecules discussed in this set of lectures also called?

Biological molecules or biomolecules

What are the four classes of macromolecules (biomolecules)?

Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids.

What are carbohydrates?

Sugars and sugar polymers (hydrated carbon)

What are lipids?

Water insoluble macromolecules

What are proteins built from?

Built from amino acids.

What are the two types of nucleic acids?

DNA (genes) and RNA (reads copies of DNA to make proteins).

What are polymers?

Big molecules built from building blocks called monomers.

Which three of the four classes of biomolecules follow the 'pearls on a necklace' pattern?

Carbohydrates (simple sugars), proteins (amino acids), and nucleic acids (nucleotides).

Why are lipids not considered polymers?

They are long carbon chains used for energy storage and are not polymeric.

What is catabolism?

Breaking down reactions (e.g., digestion).

What is anabolism?

Building up reactions (synthesis).

How does synthesis (anabolism) occur?

Removing a hydrogen from one building block and a hydroxide from the other to form water (H2O).

By what process does catabolism work?

Hydrolysis (adding water to break bonds).

What are the catalysts that drive metabolic reactions?

Enzymes.

What does building a large polymer via dehydration synthesis require?

It requires energy.

What is the energy-carrying molecule in cells?

ATP (adenosine triphosphate).

What is the process that converts digested polymers into blood sugar (glucose)?

Cellular respiration.

Which organelle feeds on glucose to produce ATP?

The mitochondria.

What occurs during photosynthesis?

Plants take in carbon dioxide and water to create sugars and oxygen

What is a monosaccharide?

A simple sugar (e.g., glucose).

What is a polysaccharide?

Many sugars linked up in a row.

What is nature's most common monosaccharide?

Glucose.

What is a hexose?

A six-carbon sugar.

What is a disaccharide?

Two simple sugars linked together.

What is a glycosidic linkage?

A covalent bond formed by dehydration synthesis between monosaccharides.

What is maltose?

Two glucose molecules linked together.

What is sucrose?

Glucose linked to fructose (table sugar).

What is lactose?

Glucose linked to galactose (milk sugar).

What are the roles of polysaccharides?

Long-term energy storage and structural building materials.

What structural polysaccharide do plants use to build their cell walls?

Cellulose.

What is the role of starch in plants?

Plants store excess glucose as a sugar polymer

What is the function of amylase?

It breaks down starch in your saliva.

What is the role of glycogen in animals?

Animals store excess glucose as a sugar polymer in the liver and muscles

What do lobsters, crabs, beetles, and spiders rely on since they do not have an internal bone structure?

Exoskeleton.

What structural polysaccharide do arthropods (jointed-foot animals) use for their exoskeletons?

Chitin.