Exam 4 Review: Biomolecules and Genetics

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, enzymes, and nucleic acids based on the Exam 4 review transcript.

Carbohydrates

Also called sugars and starches, these are polyhydroxy aldehydes or ketones, or compounds that can be hydrolyzed to them.

Monosaccharides

The simplest sugars, such as fructose, glucose, and galactose.

Oligosaccharides

Carbohydrates containing 2 to 10 monosaccharides, often involved in cell recognition and modifications of lipids and proteins.

Polysaccharides

Polymers of repeating monosaccharide units, such as starch and cellulose, used for storage or structural support.

Aldose

A monosaccharide containing an aldehyde functional group.

Ketose

A monosaccharide containing a ketone functional group.

Triose

A monosaccharide characterized by having 3 carbon atoms in its chain.

Glycosidic linkage

The bond that joins two monosaccharide rings together to form disaccharides or polysaccharides.

Lactose

The disaccharide found in milk, consisting of glucose and galactose joined by a 1 ightarrow 4 -eta glycosidic bond.

Lactase

The enzyme that breaks down lactose into glucose and galactose.

Sucrose

Commonly known as table sugar, this disaccharide consists of one glucose ring and one fructose ring.

Human Milk Oligosaccharides

Oligosaccharides in breast milk that are not absorbed in the intestine but help establish beneficial colon bacteria in newborns.

Cellulose

An unbranched polymer of glucose units joined by 1 ightarrow 4 -eta glycosidic linkages, providing structural support in plant cell walls.

Amylose

The first main type of starch, which is a polymer of glucose units joined by $ext{\alpha-glycosidic}$ linkages.

Amylopectin

A type of starch containing $1 ightarrow 4 - ext{\alpha}$ and $1 ightarrow 6 - ext{\alpha-glycosidic}$ linkages.

Glycogen

The major form of polysaccharide storage in animals, stored in the liver and muscle cells.

Lipids

Energy-rich, hydrophobic molecules that are insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents.

Essential fatty acids

Fatty acids like linoleic and linolenic acids that cannot be synthesized by the body and must be obtained via diet.

Triacylglycerols

Also known as triglycerides, these are storage lipids formed by three ester bonds between glycerol and three fatty acid molecules.

Amphipathic

Molecules that contain both polar and nonpolar regions, such as membrane lipids.

Phospholipids

Membrane lipids where a phosphate group is bound to glycerol or sphingosine and a small amino alcohol.

Glycolipids

Lipids containing sphingosine and a carbohydrate component (mono-, di-, or oligosaccharide) instead of a phosphate group.

Steroids

Lipids characterized by a unique four-ring system; examples include cholesterol and various hormones.

Bile salts

Emulsifying agents produced in the liver and stored in the gall bladder that solubilize dietary triacylglycerols.

Proteins

Biomolecules containing many amide bonds formed by joining amino acids, accounting for $50 \%$ of the dry weight of the human body.

Peptide bond

The amide bond formed between the amine of one amino acid and the carboxylic acid of another.

Primary structure

The particular amino acid sequence of a protein.

Secondary structure

Regular folding patterns in localized regions of a polypeptide, such as the \alpha-helix or \beta-sheet, resulting from hydrogen bonding.

Tertiary structure

The 3D shape of a protein resulting from folding, stabilized by disulfide bridges, salt bridges, hydrogen bonding, and London forces.

Quaternary structure

The interactions of two or more polypeptide chains within a single protein.

Protein Denaturation

The disruption of secondary, tertiary, or quaternary structure, causing the protein to lose its function.

Enzymes

Proteins that serve as biological catalysts to increase reaction rates in living organisms.

Oxidoreductases

A class of enzymes that catalyze oxidation-reduction reactions.

Hydrolases

A class of enzymes that catalyze hydrolysis reactions.

Active site

The specific region of an enzyme where biomolecules bind for a reaction to proceed.

Nucleotide

The building block of nucleic acids, consisting of a monosaccharide (sugar), a phosphate, and a nitrogenous base.

Phosphodiester linkage

The bond that joins nucleotides together to form the bridge in DNA and RNA polymers.

Semiconservative Replication

The DNA replication process where the two strands separate and each acts as a template for a new strand.

Transcription

The process where a DNA template strand is copied as a single-stranded mRNA transcript by RNA polymerase.

Codon

A sequence of three nucleotides that encodes a specific amino acid.

Anticodon

A sequence of three nucleotides in tRNA that is complementary to the codon in mRNA.

Point mutation

A genetic change involving the substitution of one nucleotide for another in the DNA sequence.

Retrovirus

A virus with an RNA core that invades a host and synthesizes viral DNA through reverse transcription.