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Biology🧬 > Biochemistry🧪 > Flashcards

Biochemistry🧪 Flashcards

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1
Q

Magnesium function

A
  • Used to form chlorophyll

* Present bone and teeth

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2
Q

Iron function

A

Component of haemoglobin

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3
Q

Calcium function

A
  • Used to strengthen bones and teeth
  • Used to strength cell walls in plants - major part of middle lamellae
  • Important role in blood clotting and muscle contraction
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4
Q

Phosphate function

A
  • Used to form phospholipids
  • In many biological compounds such as ATP and nucleic acid
  • Needed for root growth
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5
Q

Why is water polar?💧

A

The hydrogen atoms are slightly positive and the oxygen atom is slightly negative

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6
Q

What does the polar nature of water allow to form?💧

A

Hydrogen bonds form between a hydrogen atom of one water molecule and the oxygen atom of another - this creates cohesion

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7
Q

What is water cohesion?💧

A
  • Hydrogen bonds between water molecules creates cohesion

* Molecules stick together in a strong lattice structure - long water columns don’t break, e.g. transpiration stream

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8
Q

What is surface tension of water?💧

A
  • At the air/water interface, cohesion produces surface tension
  • Some insects can exploit this property - body is supported by surface tension
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9
Q

Why is water’s solvent properties important?💧

A
  • Known as a universal solvent
  • Chemical reactions can occur in a solution - chemicals are free to move about
  • Makes transport easier - solutes are able to dissolve, e.g. in the blood, and then be carried around the organism
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10
Q

Why is water a metabolite?💧

A

Used up in many reactions

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11
Q

Why is water a good transport medium?💧

A
  • Good solvent
  • Viscous
  • Lubricant
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12
Q

Why is water’s high specific heat capacity important?💧

A
  • Takes large amount of energy to raise the temperature of a body of water
  • Important to cells - large amount of energy to raise a cell’s temperature, so cell can maintain stable internal temperature which is important for actions of enzymes
  • Important In bodies of water - provides a relatively stable environment for aquatic animals
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13
Q

Water’s high latent heat of evaporation💧

A
  • Relatively large amount of energy required to turn water from a liquid to a gas
  • Important for organisms as evaporation of water takes energy away from skin, causing a cooling effect
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14
Q

Density changes in water💧

A
  • Solid water has a lower density than liquid water - ice floats
  • Important as ice provides an insulating layer on top of a body of water - liquid below ice has higher temperature than air above it - organisms survive
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15
Q

Water’s transparency💧

A

Light can travel through water, meaning organisms such as plants and algae are able to photosynthesise underwater

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16
Q

Water as a buoyancy aid💧

A

Water provides support and buoyancy for aquatic organisms

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17
Q

What is a polymer?

A

Large molecules made up of repeating units of monomers

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18
Q

What is a condensation reaction?

A

A chemical reaction involving the joining together of two molecules and the removal of a molecule of water

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19
Q

What is a hydrolysis reaction?

A

The splitting of a large molecule into smaller molecules by the addition of water

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20
Q

What are carbohydrates?🍞

A
  • Source of energy in all living organisms

* All contain carbon - forms 4 bonds, hydrogen - forms 1 bond and oxygen - forms 2 bonds

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21
Q

What is a monosaccharide?🍞

A
  • CnH2nOn
  • Classified by number of carbon atoms: triose (3), pentose (5), hexose (6)
  • Provides building blocks for larger carbohydrate molecules
  • Act as a respiratory substrate
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22
Q

Glucose🍞 (monosaccharide)

A
  • Used in respiration to produce ATP
  • Monomer for many different polysaccharides
  • Has two isomers: alpha and beta - differ in arrangement of H and OH on carbon 1
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23
Q

What is an isomer?

A

Molecules with the same chemical formula but different structure

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24
Q

What is a disaccharide?🍞

A
  • Two monosaccharides joined by a glycosidic bond - condensation reaction (produces a molecule of water)
  • Can be broken back into monosaccharides (hydrolysis)
  • Small and water soluble - suitable for transport
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25
Q

What are reducing sugars?🍞 (disaccharide)

A
  • Monosaccharides and some disaccharides
  • Have carbonyl groups which can be oxidised to carboxylic acids
  • Reduce other compounds, forming a precipitate
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26
Q

What is a polysaccharide?🍞

A
  • Three or more monosaccharides joined by condensation reactions
  • Either have a structural or storage function
  • Large size - insoluble
  • Osmotically inactive - stored without being affected by osmosis
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27
Q

What is starch? (Storage polysaccharide)🍞

A
  • Store of glucose - made up of many alpha glucose molecules
  • Two components - amylose and amylopectin
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28
Q

What is amylose?🍞(Starch)

A

Chain of glucose monomers joined by 1,4 glycosidic bonds and formed into a helix - unbranched

29
Q

What is amylopectin?🍞(starch)

A

Has 1,4 and 1,6 glycosidic bonds, giving it a branched structure

30
Q

What makes starch a good good store?🍞(Storage polysaccharide)

A
  • Compact - pack lots of energy into a smaller space than glucose
  • Insoluble - has little effect on osmotic pressure, doesn’t get transported from storage areas by water
  • Readily converted to sugars -easily converted into transportable molecules
31
Q

What is glycogen?🍞(storage polysaccharide)

A
  • Polymer made up of many alpha glucose monomers
  • Similar to amylopectin - 1,4 and 1,6 glycosidic bonds - branched structure
  • Store glucose in animals
32
Q

Why does glucose’s structure indicate animals’ higher metabolic requirements?🍞

A

More branched structure - broken down more rapidly

33
Q

What is cellulose?(structural polysaccharide)🍞

A
  • Polysaccharide made up of beta glucose monomers joined by 1,4 glycosidic bonds - forms long straight (unbranched) chains - strength
  • Each beta glucose molecule is rotated 180’ from the previous molecule - enables hydrogen bonds to form between OH groups in adjacent chains
  • Many cellulose chains form a microfibril, many microfibrils form a cellulose fibre, cellulose fibres make up cell walls of plants
34
Q

What gives cellulose its strength?🍞(structural polysaccharide)

A

Many hydrogen bonds and unbranched structure

35
Q

What is chitin?(structural polysaccharide)🍞

A
  • Made up of chains of beta glucose monomers, rotated 180’ from previous monomer, with hydrogen bonds between chains forming microfibrils
  • Amino acids added to form a mucopolysaccharide
  • Contains nitrogen
  • Strong and lightweight
  • Forms exoskeletons of insects and cell walls of fungi
36
Q

What is used to test starch?🍞

A
  • Several drops of iodine added to sample

* If present, sample turns blue/black

37
Q

What is used to test for reducing sugar?🍞

A
  • Benedict’s reagent is added to sample
  • Solution is boiled
  • If present, change from blue to brick red precipitate
38
Q

What is used to test for non-reducing sugar?🍞

A
  • If reducing sugar test shows a negative result, this test can be carried out
  • Hydrolysing glycosidic bond by heating with hydrochloric acid - forms two monosaccharides
  • Neutralised by adding sodium hydrogen carbonate
  • Boiled with Benedict’s reagent
  • If present, brick red precipitate
39
Q

What are lipids?🍔

A
  • Made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
  • Made up of glycerol and fatty acids
  • Non-polar, insoluble
40
Q

What are fatty acids?🍔

A
  • Consist of a methyl group, a variable length hydrocarbon chain and a carboxyl group
  • Hydrocarbon chains contain an even number of carbon atoms - between 14 and 22
  • Either saturated or unsaturated
  • Vary - length of hydrocarbon tail or how saturated the molecule is
  • Fatty acids affect the lipids’ properties
41
Q

Difference between saturated and unsaturated fatty acids🍔

A
  • Saturated - no carbon-carbon double bonds in the hydrocarbon chain
  • Unsaturated - carbon-carbon double bonds in the hydrocarbon chain
42
Q

Difference between monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids🍔

A
  • Monounsaturated - one carbon-carbon double bond

* Polyunsaturated - two or more carbon-carbon double bonds

43
Q

What are triglycerides?🍔

A
  • 1 glycerol and 3 fatty acids
  • 3 condensation reactions which form 3 ester bonds
  • When oxidised, releases more energy than carbohydrates and produces metabolic water
44
Q

What are phospholipids?🍔

A

•2 fatty acids and a phosphate group combine with a glycerol molecule

45
Q

Functions of lipids in living organisms🍔

A
  • Energy storage - 2x more than same mass of carbohydrate
  • Protection of delicate organs
  • Thermal insulation
  • Buoyancy
  • Source of metabolic water for organisms such as camels
  • Waterproofing
46
Q

Why is a high intake of saturated fats a contributory factor in heart disease?🍔

A

Raises LDL cholesterol level, increasing the risk of atheroma in coronary and other arteries

47
Q

What are waxes?🍔

A
  • Long chained fatty acids linked to a long chained alcohol

* Insoluble and form a waterproof layer

48
Q

What are steroids?🍔

A
  • Four-ring structure with various side chains
  • Insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents
  • Important as hormones
  • Synthesised from cholesterol
49
Q

What is cholesterol?🍔

A
  • Important constituent of body cells, especially cell membrane
  • Too much cholesterol and saturated fat can produce atheroma deposits - reduce blood flow in arteries
50
Q

What are proteins?🥩

A

Polypeptides made up of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sometimes sulphur

51
Q

What is a polypeptide?🥩

A
  • A polymer consisting of a chain of amino acid molecules
  • Joined by peptide bonds formed by condensation
  • One or more polypeptides form a protein
52
Q

What is used to test for lipids?🍔

A
  • Emulsion test
  • Ethanol added to sample and shaken thoroughly
  • Distilled water is added
  • If present, a layer of cloudy white suspension will form
53
Q

Roles of proteins🥩

A
  • Enzymes
  • Carrier proteins
  • Antibodies
  • Structural proteins
  • Hormones
  • Transport - haemoglobin
  • Contractile proteins
54
Q

What are amino acids?🥩

A
  • Made up of a amino group (NH2) and a carboxyl group (COOH) and a variable residual (R) group
  • Amino end - base - positive amino acid ion
  • Carboxyl end - acid - negative amino acid ion
  • They are amphoteric - act as base and acid, so can act as a pH buffer
55
Q

How many R groups are there?🥩

A

20 different R groups, so 20 different amino acids

56
Q

How is a dipeptide Formed?🥩

A
  • Two amino acids combine in a condensation reaction to form a dipeptide - a molecule of water is also formed
  • Peptide bond forms between carboxyl group of one amino acid and the amino group of the other amino acid
57
Q

What is a protein’s primary structure?🥩

A

The type, number and sequence of amino acids in a protein

Peptide bonds

58
Q

What is a protein’s secondary structure?🥩

A
  • Polypeptide can twist to form either an alpha helix or a beta pleated sheet
  • Shape is held together by hydrogen bonds between the peptide bonds
59
Q

What is a protein’s tertiary structure?🥩

A
  • Polypeptide helix twists and folds into specific complex 3D shapes
  • Specific structure is maintained by hydrogen bonds, ionic bonds and disulphide bonds between the R groups of the amino acids
60
Q

What is a protein’s quaternary structure?🥩

A
  • Only some proteins have a quaternary structure

* Two or more polypeptides with a tertiary structure can combine to form a quaternary structure

61
Q

What is the hydrophobic effect?🥩

A
  • Helps some proteins maintain their structure
  • When globular proteins are in solution, the hydrophobic groups point inwards, away from the water
  • Allows molecule to be soluble in water
62
Q

Stability of proteins🥩

A
  • Increases in temperature/changes in pH or presence of heavy metal ions or organic solvents cause the atoms to vibrate
  • Bonds break - 3D structure changes
  • Affects tertiary and quaternary structure - denatures
63
Q

Globular proteins🥩

A
  • Tertiary and quaternary structure
  • Compact molecules
  • Highly twisted polypeptide chains roll up into a ball - specific in shape
  • Hydrophobic R groups point out - water soluble
  • Tend to be less stable and are involved in metabolic reactions
  • Includes enzymes, antibodies and hormones
64
Q

What is haemoglobin?🥩(globular)

A
  • Globular protein
  • Consists of 4 polypeptide chains - disulphide bridges hold them together
  • At the centre of each polypeptide is a haem group
65
Q

Fibrous proteins🥩

A
  • Secondary structure
  • Insoluble, strong, stable and flexible
  • Polypeptides Laos sown in parallel chains, linked together to form long fibres or sheets
  • E.g. keratin or collagen
66
Q

What is collagen?🥩(fibrous)

A
  • Fibrous protein
  • Provides the tough properties needed in tendons and bones
  • Consists of 3 alpha helix chains formed into long strands - wind around each other held together by hydrogen bonds
67
Q

What is used to test for proteins?🥩

A
  • Biuret test
  • Biruet reagent is added to sample
  • If present, change from blue to lilac/purple
68
Q

Number of bonds formed by Carbon, oxygen and hydrogen🍞🍔

A
  • Carbon - 4
  • Oxygen - 2
  • Hydrogen - 1
69
Q

Monosaccharides and the disaccharides they form🍞

A
  • Glucose + glucose = maltose
  • Glucose + fructose = sucrose
  • Glucose + galactose = lactose

Biology🧬 (24 decks)

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