Biochemistry Unit Study Guide

Four Common Characteristics

Carbon based

Each built from single type of building block

Form determines function

Few elements form the molecules

Building Blocks

Carbohydrates: Sugar

Lipids: Fatty acids

Proteins: Amino acids

Nucleic acids: nucleotide

Carbohydrates formula (Ratio?)

Any compound with carbon, hydrogen, oxygen (CH₂O)_n —> n is the times it gets repeated

Uses of Carbohydrates

One of main energy sources

Building materials for things like cell walls in plants and bacteria

Carbohydrates: Explain Monosaccharide, Disaccharide, Polysaccharide

Monosaccharide: Single sugar molecules (Looks like carbon ring. ex: glucose)

Disaccharide: Two sugar molecules linked together (sucrose)

Polysaccharide: Several sugars linked together (ex: starch)

Three classes of carbohydrates

Statch: food storage in plants

Glycogen: food storage in animals

Cellulose: structural support in plants

Are Lipids polymers?

No, lipids are not polymers

Three classes of lipids

fats: lipids that are solid at room temperature

Oils: lipids that are liquid at room temperature

Waxes: lipids used for building structures

Lipids: Saturated vs Unsaturated

Saturated: lipids with no double bonds between any carbons

Unsaturated: lipids tails with one or more double bonds between carbons

Lipids: Phospholipids

Phospholipids are modified lipids found in cells, used to build cell membranes

Lipids: Phospholipids - what are two types

Hydrophilic - water loving

Hydrophobic - water hating

Steroids

Lipids needed for hormone production

Proteins are?

Polymers made with amino acids (monomers)

Proteins 5 parts of amino acids

Central carbon atom

Carboxly group

Animo group

Hydrogen group

R group

Proteins/amino acids structure?

All have same basic structure with changes in R group to make all proteins

Proteins function depends on what?

shape and sequence of R group (20 different types)

Enzymes

Speed up chemical reactions by lowering the activation energy needed to start reaction

Almost all cellular activities require the use of?

Proteins which are functionally diverse organic molecules

What bonds join amino acids in proteins

Peptide bond

Nucleic acids are?

polymers built from monomers called nucleotides

• specialized molecules used for storing genetic information

Nucleic acids three groups?

Phosphate group, sugar (deoxyribose or ribose), Nitrogenous base

DNA and RNA

DNA - has blueprints on how to make proteins

RNA - create copies of DNA

Structure of DNA

Twisted ladder, double helix

Rails of ladder made of deoxyribose and phosphate

Four different nitrogenous bases

adenine, thymine, cytosine, guanine (all inside latter)

Cytosine always pairs with guanine

DNA vs RNA

• Sugar in DNA is deoxyribose, Sugar in RNA is ribose

• DNA can’t leave nucleus while RNA can