AP Bio - Unit 5 Vocab

Macromolecule

A giant molecule formed by the joining of smaller molecules

Polymer

A long molecule consisting of many similar or identical monomers linked together by covalent bonds

Monomer

The subunit that serves as the building block of a polymer

Enzyme

A macromolecule serving as a catalyst

Dehydration synthesis

A chemical reaction in which two molecules become covalently bonded to each other with the removal of a water molecule

Hydrolysis

A chemical reaction that breaks bonds between two molecules by the addition of water; functions in disassembly of polymers to monomers

Monosaccharides

The simplest carbohydrate

Disaccharide

A double sugar

Glycosidic linkage

A covalent bond formed between two monosaccharides by a dehydration reaction

Polysaccharides

A polymer of many monosaccharides

Starch

A storage polysaccharide in plants

Glycogen

An extensively branched glucose storage polysaccharide found in the liver and muscle of animals; the animal equivalent of starch

Cellulose

A structural polysaccharide of plant cell walls

Chitin

A structural polysaccharide

Lipids

Any of a group of large biological molecules

Fat

A lipid consisting of three fatty acids linked to one glycerol molecule; also called a triacylglycerol or triglyceride

Fatty acid

A carboxylic acid with a long carbon chain. They vary in length and in the number and location of double bonds

Saturated fatty acid

A fatty acid in which all carbons in the hydrocarbon tail are connected by single bonds

Unsaturated fatty acid

A fatty acid that has one or more double bonds between carbons in the hydrocarbon tail. Such bonding reduces the number of hydrogen atoms attached to the carbon skeleton

Phospholipid

A lipid made up of glycerol joined to two fatty acids and a phosphate group. The hydro-carbon chains of the fatty acids act as nonpolar

Steroid

A type of lipid characterized by a carbon skeleton consisting of four fused rings with various chemical groups attached

Cholesterol

A steroid that forms an essential component of animal cell membranes and acts as a precursor molecule for the synthesis of other biologically important steroids

Catalyst

A chemical agent that selectively increases the rate of a reaction without being consumed by the reaction

Polypeptide

A polymer of many amino acids linked together by peptide bonds

Protein

A biologically functional molecule consisting of one or more polypeptides folded and coiled into a specific three-dimensional structure

Amino acid

An organic molecule possessing both a carboxyl and an amino group. They serve as the monomers of polypeptides

Trans fat

An unsaturated fat

Peptide bond

The covalent bond between the carboxyl group on one amino acid and the amino group on another

Primary structure

The level of protein structure referring to the specific linear sequence of amino acids

Secondary structure

Regions of repetitive coiling or folding of the polypeptide backbone of a protein due to hydrogen bonding between constituents of the backbone (not the side chains)

Alpha helix

A coiled region constituting one form of the secondary structure of proteins

Beta pleated sheet

One form of the secondary structure of proteins in which the polypeptide chain folds back and forth

Tertiary structure

The overall shape of a protein molecule due to interactions of amino acid side chains

Hydrophobic interaction

A type of weak chemical interaction caused when molecules that do not mix with water coalesce to exclude water

Disulfide bridges

A strong covalent bond formed when the sulfur of one cysteine monomer bonds to the sulfur of another cysteine monomer

Quaternary structure

The particular shape of a complex

Denaturation

In proteins

Chaperonins

A protein complex that assists in the proper folding of other proteins

Gene

A discrete unit of hereditary information consisting of a specific nucleotide sequence in DNA (or RNA

Nucleic acids

A polymer consisting of many nucleotide monomers

Deoxyribonucleic acid

A nucleic acid molecule

Ribonucleic acid

A type of nucleic acid consisting of a polynucleotide made up of nucleotide monomers with a ribose sugar

Gene expression

The process by which information encoded in DNA directs the synthesis of proteins

Polynucleotides

A polymer consisting of many nucleotide monomers in a chain

Nucleotide

The building block of a nucleic acid

Pyrimidine

One of two types of nitrogenous bases found in nucleotides

Purines

One of two types of nitrogenous bases found in nucleotides

Deoxyribose

The sugar component of DNA nucleotides

Ribose

The sugar component of RNA nucleotides

Antiparallel

Referring to the arrangement of the sugar-phosphate backbones in a DNA double helix

Double helix

The form of native DNA

Genomics

The systematic study of whole sets of genes (or other DNA) and their interactions within a species

Proteomics

The systematic study of sets of proteins and their properties