BIO - Chapter 5 The Structure and Function of Macromolecules Flashcards
Macromolecule
Large molecule that is composed of thousands of covalently bonded atoms. Ex: Polysaccharides, proteins, and nucleic acids
Polymers
A long molecule consisting of many similar or identical monomers linked together by covalent bonds.
Monomers
The subunit that serves as the building block of a polymer. Are repeating.
Polymerization
The chemical mechanisms by which cells make polymers
In cells, the processes of building and breaking down are facilitated by?
Enzymes
Enzyme
A macromolecule that serves as a catalyst (a chemical agent that increases the rate of a reaction without being consumed by the reaction.)
Catalyst
A chemical agent that increases the rate of a reaction without being consumed by the reaction.
Most enzymes are ____
Proteins
Condensation Reaction
The reaction that connects a monomer to another monomer or a polymer. A reaction in which two molecules are covalently bonded to each other with the loss of a small molecule such as H2O (in this case it would be dehydration)
Dehydration Reaction
A chemical reaction in which two molecules become covalently bonded to each other with the removal of a water molecule.
Also a type of condensation reaction.
What are life’s 4 organic molecules?
Lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids
3/4 of Life’s Organic Molecules are polymers. These 3 are?
Carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids
Monomers form larger molecules by ____
Condensation reactions called dehydration reactions
What are the monomers for carbohydrates/polysaccharides
monosaccharides/simple sugars
What are the monomers for proteins
amino acids (20 of them)
How many amino acids are there?
20
What are the monomers for nucleic acids?
Nucleotides (5 of them)
What is the body’s favorite monosaccharide?
Glucose
What is the chemical formula and ratio for glucose (the most common monosaccharide)?
C6H12O6 –> 1:2:1
Monomers form larger molecules (polymers) by condensation reactions called?
Dehydration Reactions (which is an anabolic reaction)
Polymers are disassembled into monomers by ____, a reaction that is essentially the reverse of dehydration reactions and involves the addition of H2O
Hydrolysis (which is a catabolic reaction)
An immense variety of polymers can be built from____
A small set of monomers
Monosaccharides serve as ____
Major fuel for cells and raw building material for molecules
Carbohydrates include ___
Monosaccharides (simple sugars/monomers), disaccharides, or polysaccharides (aka carbohydrate macromolecules).
What is the most common monosaccharide/simple sugar?
Glucose
Monosaccharides are classified by location of the ____ and by number of ______
Carbonyl group (aldose or ketose); Carbons in the carbon skeleton
Often drawn as a linear skeleton, monosaccharides will form what shape in an aqueous (sol. that contains water as a solvent) solution?
Ring shape
The covalent bond between two monosaccharides joined when a dehydration reaction takes place is called a _____
Glycosidic linkage
What is the difference between an aldose (aldehyde sugar) and a ketose (ketone sugar)?
The location of the carbonyl group. In an aldose, the carbonyl group is at the end of the carbon skeleton, while in a ketose it is within the carbon skeleton.
Carbonyl Group
CO
Glucose and fructose are what type of isomers?
Structural Isomers
The most common disaccharide is sucrose. It’s made of which 2 monomers?
glucose and fructose
Starchers are?
Polysaccharides
Generally, animals cannot digest (hydrolyze) the glycosidic linkages between the glucose molecules in cellulose. How then do cows get enough nutrients from eating grass?
Microorganisms in their digestive tracts hydrolyze the cellulose to individual glucose units.
Glycogen
A glucose storage polymer found in animals
Starch
A glucose storage polymer in plants
Chitin
The structural polysaccharide found in arthropod exoskeletons
Collagen
Structural protein found in tendons and ligaments
Carbohydrates are used in our bodies mainly for
Energy storage and release
Amylase is an enzyme that breaks down starch. Why can the same enzyme not break down cellulose?
The monosaccharide monomers in cellulose are bonded together (by B glycosidic linkages) differently than those in starch (glycosidic linkages).
Nutritionally, saturated triacylglycerols are considered to be less healthful than unsaturated triacylglycerols. What is the difference between them?
For carbon skeletons of equal length, saturated triacylglycerols have more hydrogen atoms than unsaturated triacylglycerols do.
The lipids that form the main structural component of cell membranes are __________.
Phospholipids (which form the bilayer between the cell and its external environment). Phospholipids have a polar and nonpolar end.
Phospholipids are ____. Triacylglycerols are ____.
Fats; Oils; Both are lipids
Steroids are ____
Lipids
High cholesterol levels are considered a major risk factor for heart disease. If it is so bad for humans, why does the body make cholesterol in the first place?
Cholesterol is the precursor for many important molecules such as sex hormones.
Manufacturers make vegetable oils solid or semisolid at room temperature by
adding hydrogen atoms to the fatty acid hydrocarbon chains, thereby converting carbon-carbon double bonds to single bonds
Nucleotides (monomers for nuclei acids) contain:
Nitrogenous base, Penrose sugar, and a phosphate group
Nucleoside
The part of a nucleotide without the phosphate group
DNA
Provides directions for its own replication & directs synthesis of mRNA and controls protein syn. Through mRNA
2 types of nitrogenous bases
Pyrimidines and purines
Pyrimidines
Have a single 6membered ring (C and U and T)
Purines
Have a 6 membered ring fused to a 5 membered ring (A and G)
Transcription
Then DNA into mRNA
5’-3’ becomes 3’5’
The translation is when you use the U
T
Thymine
A
Adenine
G
Guanine
C
Cytosine
Protein Conformation is determined by:
Primary structure, physical and chemical changes in pH, slat concentration, temperature, and other environmental factors
Denaturation
Protein becomes inactive
Chaperonins
Protein molecule that assist the proper folding of other proteins
Amino acids have which two groups
Carboxyl and amino
Protein functions
structural support, storage, transport, cellular communications, movement, defense against foreign substances, enzymes
