Biomolecules Flashcards

1
Q

Which biomolecule contains glycosidic bonds?

A

Carbohydrates

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2
Q

What type of bond is found joining amino acids?

A

Peptide bonds

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3
Q

What biomolecules can be used for energy storage?

A

Carbohydrates and lipids

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4
Q

Describe the structure of a phospholipid (triglyceride) molecule

A
  • Glycerol
  • Three fatty acids
  • Ester bond
  • Phosphate
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5
Q

Describe the two fatty acids in a triglyceride molecule

A
  • Unsaturated

- Containing less than the maximum number of H atoms

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6
Q
What molecule is this? What does it consist of?
               R
                |
H2N   -   C   -   COOH
                |
               H
A

Amino acid

  • Amino group (H2N)
  • Carboxyl group (COOH)
  • 20 group ‘H’
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7
Q

Lipids are insoluble in H2O because they are:

A

Hydrophobic

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8
Q

What is lactose composed of?

A

Glucose and galactose

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9
Q

What is cellulose made up of?

A

Unbranched chain of glucose molecules linked by β 1,4 glycosidic bond

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10
Q

Which purine base is found in RNA?

A

Guanine

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11
Q

Amino acids are produced by:

A

Proteins

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12
Q

Name three polysaccharides:

A

Glycogen, cellulose and starch

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13
Q

What is the most common monomer of a carbohydrate

A

Glucose

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14
Q

Is cholesterol a steroid?

A

Yes, carried in the bloodstream by lipoproteins (LDL and HDL)

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15
Q

Which is a linear polysaccharide?

  • Glycogen
  • Starch
  • Cellulose
A

Cellulose

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16
Q

What type of test is used in determining the presence of carbohydrates?

A

Benedict’s reagent

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17
Q

Glucose is a …..

A

Monosaccharide

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18
Q

The three classifications of carbohydrates are:

A

Monosaccharide, disaccharide, and polysaccharide

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19
Q

Bad cholesterol refers to?

A

Low Density Lipoproteins, high levels of LDL cholesterol raise your risk for heart disease and stroke

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20
Q

Which class of lipids is a major component of cell membrane?

A

Phospholipids

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21
Q

What biomolecule do enzymes belong to?

A

Proteins

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22
Q

What are monomers and polymers?

A

Monomers are the smaller units from which larger molecules are made. Polymers are molecules made from a large number of monomers joined together

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23
Q

When does hydrolysis take place?

A

Digestion of carbohydrates

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24
Q

Benedict’s solution consists of:

A

Copper sulphate

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25
Q

Joining of two monosaccharides takes place by the process of….

A

Condensation reaction

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26
Q

What elements are organic molecules mainly composed of?

A
  • Oxygen
  • Hydrogen
  • Carbon
  • Nitrogen
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27
Q

What is the most abundant organic molecule?

A

Carbohydrates

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28
Q

Functions of carbohydrates?

A
  • Storage form of energy
  • Component of the cell membrane
  • Structural components of many organisms
  • Dietary requirement
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29
Q

Monosaccharides are equivalent to:

A
  • 1 saccharide (glucose and fructose)
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30
Q

Disaccharides are equivalent to:

A
  • 2 monosaccharides (sucrose, maltose, lactose)
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31
Q

Oligosaccharides are equivalent to:

A
  • 3-10 monosaccharides (raffinose, maltotriose, oligofructose
32
Q

Polysaccharides are equivalent to:

A

> 10 monosaccharides (starch - linear, dextrin - branched)

33
Q

What are trioses?

A
  • Consist of 3 carbon atoms
  • Glyceraldehyde
  • Dihydroxyacetone
34
Q

What are tetroses?

A
  • Consists of 4 carbon atoms
  • Erythrose
  • Erythrulose
35
Q

What are pentoses?

A
  • Consists of 5 carbon atoms
  • Ribose
  • Ribulose
36
Q

What are hexoses?

A
  • Consists of 6 carbon atoms
  • Glucose
  • Fructose
37
Q

Define isomers

A

Compounds that have same chemical formula but have different structures

38
Q

Chemical formula for glucose, galactose and fructose:

A

C6H12H06

39
Q

Define epimers

A

Carbohydrate isomers that differ in configuration around only one specific carbon atom (except carbonyl carbon)

40
Q

What are enantiomers?

A

Mirror images (monosaccharides)

41
Q

In the cyclization of monosaccharides if the OH group faces down its?

A

alpha-D-Glucopyranose

42
Q

In the cyclization of monosaccharides if the OH group faces up its?

A

beta-D-Glucopyranose

43
Q

Glycosidic bond for lactose:

A

beta (1 –> 4)

44
Q

Glycosidic bond for maltose:

A

alpha (1 –> 4)

45
Q

Glycosidic bond for sucrose:

A

alpha (1 –> 2)

46
Q

Importance of glucose:

A
  • The main sugar in the human body
  • Important energy source in all cells (can’t be stored in this form as it affects osmotic balance)
  • Glucose is stored in large polymers (glycogen) which are osmotically inactive
  • Ribose in nucleotides and nucleic acids
  • Form glycoproteins, glycolipids and lipids
  • Present in the plasma membrane
47
Q

Where and how is glucose stored?

A
  • Stored mainly in muscle and liver cells, in the form of glycogen
48
Q

What is starch made of and where is it stored?

A
  • Storage form of glucose in plants

- Composed of two long polysaccharides of glucose

49
Q

What are the polymers of starch?

A
  • Amylose (linear)

- Amylopectin (branched)

50
Q

What is cellulose?

A
  • Structural carbohydrate (plant cell walls)
  • Most abundant organic molecule on earth
  • Commonly known to be a fibre and largely indigestible (mammals lack it)
  • Chains of beta glucose joined by beta 1.4 glycosidic bonds
51
Q

How are complex carbohydrates formed?

A

When glycosidic bonds of carbohydrates are attached to non-carbohydrate structures (including: purine, pyrimidine bases (found in nucleic acids), proteins and lipids

52
Q

Function of proteins

A
  • Enzyme catalysts
  • Transport
  • Storage
  • Motion
  • Mechanical support
  • Immune protection
  • Growth and differentiation
53
Q

How many amino acids are there?

A

20

54
Q

Function of R group in an amino acid:

A

The physical and chemical characteristics of the R group determine the unique characteristics of a particular amino acid

55
Q

What is phosphorylation?

A

A very important regulatory switch in a wide variety of protein signalling pathways, channels, transporters and enzymes

56
Q

In eukaryotes, Proteins may be

phosphorylated at:

A
  • Serine
  • Threonine
  • Tyrosine
57
Q

Polypeptides are a chain of amino acids

A

Amino acids are covalently linked together via peptide bonds - condensation reaction

58
Q

Peptide bond

A
  • Uncharged at any pH
  • Partial double bond character (therefore no freedom of rotation
  • Not easy to break (requires very high acidic conditions and high temp)
59
Q

Levels of protein structure include:

A
  • Primary (linear structure)
  • Secondary (simple structures)
  • Tertiary (complex 3D shape of the protein)
  • Quaternary (arrangement of subunits in multi-polypeptide proteins
60
Q

Primary structure of a protein:

A
  • Linear
  • Simplest protein
  • How they are synthesised
61
Q

Secondary structure of a protein:

A
  • Brought about via hydrogen binding
  • alpha helix (intrachain)
  • beta sheet (between strands)
62
Q

Tertiary structure of a protein:

A
  • Determines by the interactions of 2nd structure
  • H-bonds
  • Ionic bonds
  • Hydrophobic bonds
  • Disulfide bonds
  • Van Der Waal’s bonds
63
Q

Quaternary structure of a protein:

A
  • Assembly of two or more polypeptide subunits

- 3D complex

64
Q

How can protein structure be disrupted?

A
  • pH
  • Temp
  • Chemicals
  • Not easily reversed
65
Q

What are lipids?

A
  • Group of water insoluble molecules, that can’t be extracted from tissues by non-polar solvents
  • Not polymers
  • Oxidation of lipids releases large amount of energy
66
Q

List the type of lipids:

A
  • Fatty acids
  • Triacyglycerols
  • Phospholipids
  • Sphingolipids
  • Steroids
67
Q

Describe features of fatty acids:

A
  • A long hydrocarbon chain with a carboxyl group
  • 4 to 40 carbons
  • Saturated or unsaturated fatty acids
68
Q

Saturated fats

A
  • Most animal fats are saturated

- Solid at room temp

69
Q

Unsaturated fats

A
  • Plants and fish fats, known as oils, are liquid at room temp
  • Double bonds cause chain kinks when prevent packing
70
Q

Function of fats

A
  • Energy storage (stores more than twice the energy as polysaccharide eg, starch or glycogen)

In mammals

  • Fats stored in adipose tissues
  • Cushion vital organs
  • Insulation
71
Q

Briefly describe phospholipids

A
  • Major component of cell membrane

- Glycerol + 2 FA’s + Phosphate group

72
Q

Briefly describe sphingolipids

A
  • Based on sphingosine (C18 amine alcohol)

- FA’s and R groups are added

73
Q

Function of sphingosine

A
  • Cell recognition - carbohydrate
  • Signalling
  • Lipid rafts
74
Q

What are steroids?

A

They are lipids with a common carbon skeleton consisting of four fused carbon rings

Different steroids are created by varying functional groups attached to the rings

75
Q

What is cholesterol?

A
  • The principle steroid synthesised by mammals
  • Component of eukaryotic cell membranes
  • Precursor from which all other steroids are synthesised
  • Many of these steroids are hormones, including vertebrate sex hormones
76
Q

Summary of lipids

A
  • Class of hydrophobic compounds
  • Not biopolymers
  • FA’s long chain carboxylic acids
  • FA’s may be saturated or unsaturated
  • TAG’s are 3 FA’s esterised to glycerol
  • Sphingolipids use a sphingosine backbone and may have functional R group
  • Cholesterol is the major steroid synthesised in mammals