Carbohydrates Flashcards
What are carbohydrates used for?
- cell identity
- store energy
- structural molecules
- building blocks for other biomolecules
Why do lipids store energy better than carbs bonds?
Lipids contain long chains of C-H bonds that store a lot of potential energy
Relationship between glucose and galactose
they are both hexoses (6 carbons)
they are conformational isomers of each other on the 4’
What types of structures are sugars found in?
linear and ring structure
What is the importance of the 1’ carbon
the position of the -OH group determines if it is alpha or beta and controls the dissacharides bond properties
Alpha
1’ hydroxl group is facing downwards
results in a kinked polymer
this is good to store energy since they are easy to break
Beta
1’ hydroxl group is facing upwards
results in a straight polymer
this is hard to break and therefore is used for cell walls and shells
Starch vs. glycogen
Starch is less branched and found in plants
Glycogen is more branched and found in animals
Why do animals select for glycogen over starch?
since animals do not have photosynthesis, they need more surface area to store more energy
Glycosidic linkage
analogous to the peptide bond in amino acids
and the phosphodiester bond in nucleic acids
formed due to a condensation reaction
Examples of polysaccrarides?
starch and glycogen
Starch and glycogen similarities
both are polysaccarides that store energy due to their alpha conformation
Chitin, cellulose, and petidoglycan
all made of beta conformations that make them good for cell walls and exoskeletons
Chitin
used for structural support in the cell walls of fungi
used for external skeletons of insects and crusteaceans
Petidoglycan
used for structural support in bacteria cell walls
