Bio Lecture 3 and 4 Flashcards
What is a dehydration reaction?
When 2 monomers bond together into a polymer through the loss of a water molecule
What is a hydrolysis reaction?
Polymers are disassembled into monomers by adding a water molecule
What are carbohydrates
Serve as fuel and building material. The simplest carbohydrates are monosaccharides. Carbohydrate macromolecules are polysaccharides which are polymers composed of many sugar building blocks
Explain monosaccharides
Molecular formulas that are usually multiples of CH2O
Glucose is the most common
Have glycosidic linkages
Classified by number of carbons and location of carbonyl group
Explain polysaccharides
Polymers of sugar that have storage and structural roles
Structure and function determined by sugar monomers and position of glycosidic linkages
Give examples of storage polysaccharides
Starch consists entirely of glucose monomers
Glycogen in animals in liver and muscle cells. Hydrolysis of glycogen release glucose when the demand for energy increases
Give examples of structural polysaccharides
Cellulose is a major component of plant cell walls and is a polymer of glucose
Chitin - found in arthropod exoskeletons
Why do the glycosidic linkages of cellulose differ from those of starch
Ring forms of glucose in the 2 polymers are slightly different. Cellulose contains beta glucose instead of alpha glucose in starch
What are lipids?
One class of large biological molecules that does not form polymers. Unifying feature of lipids is little or no affinity for water
Why are lipids hydrophobic?
Because they consist mostly of hydrocarbons which are non polar
Examples of lipids
- fats
- phospholipids
- steroids
What are fats constructed from?
Glycerol and fatty acids
What is glycerol?
A three carbon alcohol with an hydroxyl group attached to each carbon
What do fatty acids consist of??
Carboxyl group linked to a long hydrocarbon chain
Describe fatty acids
Three fatty acids are joined to glycerol by water linkages to form triglyceride
Vary in length, number and location of double bonds
Saturated fatty acids do not have double bonds and are solid at room temp
Unsaturated fatty acids have one or more double bonds and are liquid at room temp