Building Blocks Of Life Flashcards
Name the 4 building blocks of life
Sugars
Fatty acids
Amino acids
Nucleus acids
Which macromolecules do the following 3 subunits form
Sugar
Amino acid
Nucleotide
Polysaccharide
Protein
Nucleus acid
What reaction occurs when building a macromolecule? What is formed and what is lost?
Condensation
Covalent bond formed
Water is lost
What reaction occurs when breaking down a macromolecule? What is broken and what is consumed?
Hydrolysis
Covalent bond broke
Water consumed
What is the simplest sugar called?
Monosaccharides
What is the polysaccharide of glucose monomers called?
Glycogen
What bonds do monosaccharides link through to form a disaccharide?
Glycosidic
What is function 1 of sugar in the body?
Energy (glucose) can be oxidised to carbon dioxide and water - cellular respiration
What is function 2 of sugar in the body?
Long term storage. Glycogen in liver and muscles tissue is reserved for glucose for energy production.
What is function 3 of sugar in the body?
Cell adherence - glycoproteins and glycolipids on the cell membrane help cells to recognise and adhere to each other
What are fatty acids
Long chains of carbon and hydrogen with a carboxyl COOH group at one end
Molecules that are insoluble in water
Name and explain two examples of fatty acids
Triglycerides - contains 3 fatty acids linked to glycerol - stored in cells for energy production
Phospholipids- make up membranes that enclose cells within the nucleoli, mitochondria, Golgi and endoplasmic reticulum
What are fatty acids
Long chains of carbon and hydrogen with a carboxyl COOH group at one end
Molecules that are insoluble in water
Name and explain two examples of fatty acids
Triglycerides - contains 3 fatty acids linked to glycerol - stored in cells for energy production
Phospholipids- make up membranes that enclose cells within the nucleoli, mitochondria, Golgi and endoplasmic reticulum
What is a phospholipid
Lipid bilayer in a cell membrane.
Hydrophilic head face the aqueous environment in and outside the cells. Hydrophilic tails cluster the interior of the bilayer.
What is the function or a phospholipid
Forms the bilayer - main component of a cell membrane
Rich energy source
Adipose tissue cushions vital body organs and insulates the body
What is the structure of an amino acid and how many are there
Carboxylic group COOH and amino group NH2
20 amino acids
What are the bonds called between amino acids which form a polypeptide chain
Peptide bonds
What are proteins made up of? And how is the structure stabilised?
Proteins are made up of one or more polypeptide chains
It is stabilised by non covalent interactions between the polypeptide backbone and amino acid side chains (hydrogen electrostatic van der waals forces)
What is the primary level of a protein?
Linear sequence of amino acids with the polypeptide chain
What is the secondary level of a protein?
Primary structure coils to form a structure maintained by hydrogen bonds. Alpha Helix and Beta sheets
What is the tertiary level of a protein?
Secondary level structures form a globular structure
What is the quaternary level of a protein?
2 or more polypeptides are aggregated e.g hemoglobins with 4 polypeptides
What is a nucleotide?
Building blocks of DNA and RNA
What is a nucleotide made up of?
5 carbon sugar
Organic nitrogenous base
Phosphate group
R group coming from sugar =OH in RNA and H in DNA
What does DNA stand for and what bases are in it?
Deoxyribonucleic acid
AGTC
What does RNA stand for and what bases are in it?
Ribonucleic acid
AGCU
Describe the structure of DNA
Two strands of nucleic acids which are held together by complementary base pairing AT CG
H bonds between the pairs
Phosphodiester bonds linking nucleotide in DNA backbone (sugar phosphate)
Spiral double stranded helix
How many chromosomes do we have?
46- 23 identical pairs
Packed into chromosomes in eukaryotic cells
What is a eukaryotic cell
Definition
Describe the structure of RNA
Single stranded
Contains ribose sugar - U base instead of T.
Can fold into many shapes to have structural and catalytic functions.
Summarise fatty acids
They are a richer form of energy and are important for making membranes
Why are the properties and order of amino acids important when making proteins?
This gives the protein it’s 3D structure and specific function
What do nucleic acids do?
Store and transfer genetic information
