Biological Macromolecules Flashcards
Organic Compounds
1) Contain carbon
2) Used in daily metabolic processes
3) Polymer molecules made by repeating smaller units of Monomers
4) Glucose, Triacylglycerol, &Guanine
Inorganic Compounds
1) Do not contain carbon
2) Make up small fraction of mass in living organisms
3) Potassium, Sodium, & Iron (minerals)
What are the 4 classes of organic compounds found in living organisms?
1) Carbohydrates
2) Lipids
3) Proteins
4) Nucleic Acids
Carbohydrates
What are they, 3 components, & function.
1) Sugars
2) Carbon, Hydrogen, & Oxygen
3) Broken down to create energy molecules such as ATP or NAD
What is Glucose & it’s formula?
1) a monomer of carbohydrates aka sugar
C6 H12 O6
What is a Lipid?
Organic compound primarily composed of carbon & hydrogen with only a small amount of oxygen
What are the unique characteristics of a Lipid?
1) glycerol or phosphate “head” & hydrocarbon chain “tail”
2) head = polar/hydroPHILIC & tail = nonpolar/hydroPHOBIC
3) Allows formation of the phospholipid bilayer in the cell membrane
4) semipermeable membrane allows a cell to separate its contents from the environment.
What is a type of Lipid & it’s formula?
Lauric Acid = C12 H24 O2
What are the roles of Proteins in cellular processes?
What makes up a Protein?
1) Catalysts
2) Transport molecules across membranes
3) Facilitate DNA replication
4) Regulate cell cycle (mitosis & meiosis)
Amino Acids
What are the 3 parts of an amino acid?
How many different amino acids are there?
1) Amino group (-NH2)
2) Carboxyl group (-COOH)
3) R group- unique functional group that’s different in each amino acid
22 different amino acids
What makes up a Nucleic Acid?
Nucleotides
What makes up a Nucleic Acid?
Example
1) 5-carbon sugar
2) a phosphate group
3) a nitrogenous base
EX: Histidine
What are the 4 different nucleotides found in DNA?
1) Adenine- Purine
2) Guanine- Purine
3) Thymine- Pyrimidine
4) Cytosine- Pyrimidine
