Macromolecule Comparison Chart

These flashcards cover key concepts related to macromolecules, their monomers, bonding types, and functions.

Carbohydrate: monomer, linkages, and function

A macromolecule made up of monosaccharides,

Linked by glycosidic linkages,

Used primarily for energy storage and structure, and makes up parts of other molecules and serves as a building block.

Carbohydrate: functional groups and structure

Atoms are in ratio of 1:2:1 with carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen

Many -OH groups, A carbonyl group (C=O), Multiple carbon-hydrogen bonds

Usually in a ring structure

Carbohydrate: examples and naming

Glucose, frutose, cellulose, starch, glycogen

-ose ending to most carbs

Protein: monomer, linkages, and function

Amino acid

Peptide bond

Structural support, transport, and catalysis

Protein: examples and naming

Lactase, collagen, and hemoglobin

-ase ending for enzymes

Protein: functional groups

For each amino acid there are four components around a central carbon: an amine group (N), a hydrogen, C = O or carboxyl group (depending on if the amino acid is part of a polypeptide) and a variable R group.

4 Main Macromolecules

Carbohydrates

Protein

Nucleic Acid

Lipid

Nucleic Acid: monomer, linkages, and function

Nucleotide

Phosphodiester linkage

Storage and transmission of traits (DNA)

Involved in making proteins and catalysis of some reactions (RNA)

Nucleic Acid: examples

DNA, RNA, ATP

Nucleic Acid: functional groups and structure

For each nucleotide there are three basic components: phosphate group, 5-carbon sugar,

nitrogenous base (ring structure with nitrogens)

The nitrogenous base is made of adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine

Lipid: examples

Triglycerides/fat, phospholipids, and steroids

Lipids: function

Energy storage

Cell membranes

Cell signaling (hormones)

Lipids: structure

Many carbons and hydrogens, few other types of atoms

May have fatty acids as part of its structure

Saturated and unsaturated fatty acids have different structures

How does the amino acid sequence of a protein affect its function?

Each amino acid has an R-group that has different chemical properties. Some R-groups are non-polar, some are

charged, some are small, some are large. The interactions between the R-groups in a protein are important in

determining its three-dimensional shape

There are three main structural differences between DNA and RNA. List the ways RNA is unique:

• Ribose is the 5-carbon sugar in RNA, deoxyribose is found in DNA. The difference between the two is that

ribose has an -OH group that deoxyribose does not

• RNA has uracil (U) instead of thymine (T)

• RNA is usually single-stranded, DNA is usually double-stranded

Saturated fatty acids have _________________ than unsaturated fatty acids, which is why they exist as a

____________ at room temperature

fewer double bonds; solid

Living things are characterized by five characteristics that they all share:

Composed of cells

Reproduction

Processing/responding to information

Energy

Evolution

Theories

Like hypotheses in that they must be testable and falsifiable, but they are MUCH more supported by evidence than are hypotheses (so, much less likely to be thrown out/changed) and

More broad in scope

Hypotheses

Must be testable and falsifiable and are tentative explanations of observations.

Generally, hypotheses are written in present tense

Predictions

Outline how to test the hypothesis, including what is being manipulated by the

experimenter (independent variable) and what is expected to change (dependent variable).

Generally, predictions are in future tense and contain more specifics than hypotheses

How are pH and Acidity related

Inversely so increase in pH = decrease in acidity

What chemical bonds store the most energy

Nonpolar bonds store more energy than polar bonds

Macromolecules

Large molecules that often consist of several smaller subunits (called

monomers) bound together

Why are monosaccharides important in carbohydrates?

• The digestive system cannot absorb carbohydrates larger than a monosaccharide (larger molecules must be broken down before absorbed)

• Monosaccharides (especially glucose) are used in cellular respiration

Disaccharides

Are carbohydrates that consist of two monosaccharides

Polysaccharides: denfintion + examples

Are many monosaccharides covalently linked

Starch, glycogen, and cellulose

Why is cellulose used by plants and not able to be digested by humans?

This is caused due to the use of β-glucose in cellulose’s structure.

4 levels of protein structures

Primary

Secondary

Tertiary

Quaternary

Enzymes

Are proteins that catalyze/speed up chemical reactions – often building or

breaking down other molecules

How to differentiate between DNA (deoxyribose) and RNA (ribose)

Deoxyribose contains one less oxygen than ribose does

DNA is double stranded

ATP

An activated nucleotide that is the most commonly-used direct source of energy for cells

Directionality of nucleic acid strands

5’ to 3’

Function of RNA

RNA has a much wider variety of uses.

One of the most important is that it is used as an intermediate between DNA and protein during protein synthesis

What makes lipid different from other marcomolecules?

Are characterized by not dissolving well in water (unlike other macromolecules, they don’t have monomers that characterize them

Triglycerides/fat function

Extremely non-polar lipids that are used as long-term energy storage

Saturated fats

Have no double bonds; usually solid at room temperature because the straight

structure packs well; often found in animal-based foods

Unsaturated fats

Have double bonds; usually liquid at room temperature because the double bonds form kinks; often found in vegetable oils and fish oils

Trans fat

Have double bonds, but are solid at room temperature because the double bond doesn’t form a kink; unnatural (found in highly-processed food) and hard to digest; indicated by “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil” labels

Steroids

Are lipids composed of four linked carbon/hydrogen rings

The most common steroid is cholesterol, which is a component of cell membranes and is used to make steroid hormones

Amphipathic molecules

Have polar/hydrophilic and non-polar/hydrophobic regions. They naturally form membranes because of this

Lipid bilayers: what molecules get through and what doesn’t

Are selectively permeable – only let certain molecules cross

Only small and non-polar molecules easily pass through the non-polar region of the bilayer

Charged ions almost never get through, even if they are small, unless they can go through a protein channel