Biomolecules and metabolic reactions

Flashcards of the key vocabulary terms from the Biology lecture notes.

Cohesion

Held together by hydrogen bonds, enabling water to move as a continuous column, supporting processes like photosynthesis.

Adhesion

Attraction between water molecules and polar or charged surfaces, allowing water to stick to other materials such as soil pores and plant cell walls and helping deliver water to cells.

Solvation

The process where a solvent, like water, surrounds and interacts with solute molecules or ions due to its polarity and hydrogen bonds, dissolving polar solutes and charged ions by forming hydration shells around them.

Water potential

Water is more likely to move into that area, measured in kilopascals (kPa), and is relative to pure water, guiding water movement from areas of higher to lower potential.

Nucleotides

Building blocks of nucleic acids consisting of a sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base that include a ring of atoms containing at least one nitrogen atom.

Sugar-phosphate backbone

A strong chain of sugar and phosphate groups that forms the structural framework of DNA and RNA molecules and is important for conserving the sequence of bases in the molecule.

Condensation reactions

Chemical reactions that combine two molecules to form a single molecule and release water as a byproduct.

Hydrolysis reactions

Process in which water molecules are split to provide the -H and -OH groups that are incorporated to produce monomers.

Pentoses

Have five carbon atoms in ring form.

Hexoses

Have six carbon atoms in ring form.

Glucose

Exhibits solubility and a relatively small molecular size, facilitating its transport and circulation within the bloodstream.

Starch and glycogen

Energy-storing polysaccharides, with starch found in plants and glycogen in animals and are composed of numerous α-glucose monomers linked together, serving as substrates for cellular respiration.

Cellulose

Consists of β-glucose monomers linked by 1→4 glycosidic bonds, forming unbranched chains that can exceed 10,000 β-glucose units.

Glycoproteins

Composed of polypeptides linked to carbohydrates, play a crucial role in cell-cell recognition by displaying distinct carbohydrate chains that act as molecular identifiers influencing how cells identify one another.

Lipids

Diverse group of biological substances, exhibit hydrophobic properties, meaning they readily dissolve in non-polar solvents but have limited solubility in polar solvents like water.

Triglycerides

Formed by the condensation of three fatty acids with glycerol, resulting in the release of three water molecules

Phospholipids

Molecules composed of two fatty acids, a phosphate group, and a choline group attached to glycerol and due to a phosphate and choline group is amphipathic with hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions for cell membranes.

Fatty acids

hydrocarbon chains with a carboxyl group at one end and a methyl group at the other, with one molecule of glycerol linking three fatty acid molecules or two fatty acid molecules and one phosphate group.

Adipose tissue in animals

Formed and transferred to animal to store essential nutrients for the animal to use them in their day to day life. They also protect the animal from loosing heat when in extreme cold environments.

Phosopholipids

have both hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions, with the hydrophilic portion, consisting of the phosphate group, interacts favorably with water, while the hydrophobic tails. They spontaneously line up to form bilayers.

Amino acids

Are amphoteric molecules in which the R-group contributes to the diverse properties and functions of amino acids.

Anabolic

Is an energy-gaining process to construct larger molecules from smaller ones, such as protein synthesis and DNA replication.

Catabolic

is an energy-releasing process to break down larger molecules into smaller ones, such as digestion of food and cellular respiration.

Feedback inhibition

A regulatory mechanism where the end product of a metabolic pathway inhibits the first enzyme in the pathway, effectively turning off the pathway when the end product is not needed.