macromolecules

a cell is

the smallest most basic biological unit of life

proteins

• polymer of amino acids

• variety of functions

  • catalyze

  • structural ex, filaments

  • 20 different amino acids

nucleic acids

• chemical molecule that carries genetic information

  • dna

    • vast amount of hereditary info

    • coiled and twisted into highly compact form

    • made of nucleotides

      • nitrogenous base

        • adenine, guanine (purine)

        • cytosine or thymine (pyridine)

        • a and t, c and g

      • deoxyribose

      • phosphate

  • rna

    • interprets the information, can leave nucleus

    • uracil instead of guanine

    • reads the opposite

lipids

• mainly composed of hydrophobic hydrocarbons

• foundation of plasma membrane

• restricts movements of materials in or out the cell

carbohydrates

• carbohydrate is watered carbon ch2o

  • monosaccharides

    • only one sugar unit

    • linear or ring

    • ring better for structure

  • disaccharides

    • two monosaccharides

    • sucrose is a disaccharide

    • lactose, maltose

  • polysaccharides

    • many saccharides

    • important for energy storage

    • plant poly = starch

    • cell walls

hydrogen bonds