Bioenergetics 1: Beginnings of Life Flashcards
Energy was required and energy needed to be captured. How could energy be captured and transferred?
Iron sulfur clusters can carry electrons, and allow them to flow through them. They are found in clays which provide order to their structure. These could have promoted anabolic reactions. Also Simple aromatic compounds can carry electrons from iron sulfur complexes, therefore carry energy elsewhere
How life may have begun
The big bang 14 billion years ago, from which elements formed and from stars they became heavier. On earth, life likely formed from abundant elements on the surface of rocks and clays.
What life is composed of
C, H, P, N, and O which binds to CHP. Iron and sulfur clusters.
What is the role of water in life
Water moderates earths climate by buffering large fluctuations in temperature by having high heat capacity and energy of vaporisation. It is also a powerful solvent as it is polar. Forms barriers, transports substrates, and helps to orientate proteins.
How are the properties of polymer sugars changed eg. Sucrose vs Maltose,
The different types of bonds that can happen (due to dehydration) between sugars. In maltose there is a 1.4 glycosidic linkage and in sucrose there is a 1,2 glycosidic linkage.
How do Polymers assemble and break
dehydration to form and addition of water (hydration) to break
Lipids forms from what and what reaction is this ? What different charges can it have
Lipids from acetate undergoing dehydration reaction. Acyl chains can be saturated and unsaturated. They can grow to form hydrophobic fatty acid chains. Can be amphipathic through addition of phosphate through ester bond
What is a beta sugar vs an alpha sugar
Beta and Alpha refer to the orientation of the OH on C1 after O on the sugar.
A= OH pointing down, B= pointing up
(These are anomers).
What is the difference of unsaturated fats to saturated fats.
Unsaturated have kinks due to double bonds that stop rotation. They increase the fluidity of membranes and in room temperature they are liquids because they can’t stack so closely together.
What are the functions of lipids/ where do you find them
steroid hormones, energy storage, structural molecules (membranes)
What are the function of polysaccarides
Energy storage (starch) and structural molecules (cellulose). Carbohydrate residues can also be added to proteins or lipids to make glycoproteins/ lipids
What is the difference between different polysaccarides: cellulose, starch and glycogen
Glycogen, Starch and Cellulose are both polysaccarides of glucose, however Glycogen & starch (plant analogue) uses a-glucose, forming a-1,4 linkage and branches of 1,6 linkages making a helical structure
Cellulose uses bglucose and has linear 1,4 linkages making sheets
What is the function of nucleic acids
- All informational processes in the cell involve DNA and RNA
- Storage of chemical energy in ATP
- Intracellular signalling cAMP
What is the linkage between glycerol and fatty acids to make a TAG
ester bonds
Simple sugars and Complex sugars are both carbohydrates and both have c , o and h but what is the difference between them
The simple sugars are equal parts water and carbon (Cn(H2O)n). Complex sugars don’t follow this formula
