Chapter 5 - Macromolecules Flashcards

1
Q

what are the four biological molecules all living things are made up of?

A
  1. lipids
  2. carbohydrates
  3. proteins
  4. nucleic acids
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2
Q

what are macromolecules?

A

are large molecules composed of thousands of covalently connected atoms

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3
Q

what is a polymer?

A

a long molecule consisting of many similar building blocks (only three of the four building block molecules are polymers)

  • Carbohydrates
  • Proteins
  • Nucleic acids
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4
Q

what is a condensation reaction (dehydration reaction)?

A

occur when two monomers bond together through the loss of a water molecule

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5
Q

what are enzymes?

A

enzymes are macromolecules that speed up the dehydration process

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6
Q

what is hydrolysis?

A

a reaction which occurs when two monomers are split apart by the addition of water. the reverse of a dehydration reaction

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7
Q

what is the key for monomers to form different polymers?

A

the key is the ARRANGEMENT of monomers to form polymers

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8
Q

what are carbohydrates?

A
  • carbohydrates include sugars and the polymers of sugars
  • the simplest carbohydrates are, monosaccharides or simple sugars
  • polysaccharides are polymers composed of many sugar building blocks
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9
Q

what are sugars?

A

monosaccharides have molecular formulas that are usually multiples of CH2O
-classified by the location of the carbonyl group and the number of carbons in the carbon skeleton

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10
Q

in aqueous solutions many sugars form?

A

in aqueous solutions many sugars form rings

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11
Q

what is a disaccharide?

A

is formed when two monosaccharides (monomers) join together via dehydration reaction

  • used as a readily available energy source
  • this covalent bond is called a GLYCOSIDIC LINKAGE
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12
Q

what are glycosidic linkages?

A

they form between hydroxyl groups and because every monosaccharide contains at least TWO HYDROXYL groups, the location and geometry of glycosidic linkages can vary widely among polysaccharides

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13
Q

what are the two most common glycosidic linkages?

A

alpha α - 1,4-glycosidic linkages

beta β - 1,4-glycosidic linkages

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14
Q

what are oligosaccharides?

A

are found bound to cells surface proteins and lipids, and may be used for cell recognition

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15
Q

what are polysaccharides?

A

the polymer of sugars, have storage and structural roles

  • the structure and function of a polysaccharide is determined by its sugar monomers and the position of glycosidic linkages
  • also very unstable
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16
Q

what is starch?

A

a storage polysaccharide of plants, consists entirely of glucose monomers (stored energy)

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17
Q

what are the two types of starch (storage polysaccharides)?

A
  1. Amylose - straight line, 1,4 linkages, the angle of the linkage is helical
  2. Amylopectin - branched, with 1-6, linkages at the branches
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18
Q

what is glycogen?

A

a branched amylopectin, is a storage polysaccharide in animals
- hydrolysis of glycogen, releases glucose (energy)

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19
Q

what is cellulose?

A

is a major component of of the tough wall plant cells

- like starch cellulose is a polymer of glucose, but the glycosidic linkages differ

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20
Q

polymers with α glucose are?

A

helical

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21
Q

polymers with β glucose are?

A

straight

- enzymes that digest starch by hydrolyzing α linkages cant hydrolyze β linkages in cellulose

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22
Q

what is chitin?

A

another structural polysaccharide that is found in the exoskeleton of arthropods

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23
Q

what are glycoproteins?

A

proteins joined to carbohydrates by covalent bonds

- key molecules in cell-cell signalling and recognition

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24
Q

who was the first biochemist to synthesize sucrose?

A

Raymond Lemieux was the first scientist to synthesize sucrose, then went on to synthesize larger sugars

25
Q

what is TAS1R3?

A

we have taste receptors for sweetness, this tells us a food is high in energy

26
Q

what is a common sweetener?

A

glucose-fructose (also called high fructose corn syrup) is found in processed foods

27
Q

what are lipids?

A

lipids are the one class of large biological molecules that do not form polymers

  • lipids have little or no water affinity
  • they are hydrophobic because they consist mostly of hydrocarbons, which form non-polar covalent bonds
28
Q

what are the most biologically important lipids?

A
  1. fats
  2. phospholipids
  3. steroids
29
Q

what are fats?

A

fats are constructed from two types of smaller molecules: glycerol and fatty acids

  1. glycerol: is a 3 carbon alcohol with hydroxyl group attached to each carbon
  2. fatty acid: consists of carboxyl group attached to a long carbon skeleton (16 to 18 carbons)
30
Q

what is a triglyceride or triacylglycerol?

A

in a fat three fatty acids are joined to glycerol by an ester linkage, creating a triacylglycerol or triglyceride

31
Q

what is a saturated fatty acids?

A

have the maximum number of hydrogen atoms possible and no double bonds

32
Q

what are unsaturated fatty acids?

A

have one or more double bonds

33
Q

what are phospholipids?

A

two fatty acids and a phosphate group are attached to glycerol

  • the tails are hydrophobic
  • the head is hydrophilic
  • when in water they self-assemble into a bilayer with the hydrophobic tails pointing towards the interior
34
Q

what are steroids?

A

are lipids characterized by a carbon skeleton consisting of four fused rings; different attachments to the rings would give rise to different steroids

35
Q

what is cholesterol?

A

an important steroid, is a component in animal cell membranes
-it is also the precursor for steroids

36
Q

what are proteins functions?

A

structural support, storage, transport, cellular communications, movement and defense against foreign substances

37
Q

what are enzymes?

A

are a type of protein that acts as a biological catalyst to speed up chemical reactions

38
Q

what are polypeptides?

A

are polymers built from the same set of 20 amino acids

- a protein consists of one or more polypeptides

39
Q

what are amino acids?

A

are organic molecules with carboxyl and amino groups

- amino acids differ in their properties due to differing side chains, called R groups

40
Q

R groups can be…?

A
  1. R groups may be polar charged
  2. R groups may be polar uncharged
  3. R groups may be nonpolar
  4. Unique or “special” (Cysteine)
41
Q

peptide bonds form between?

A

between the alpha-carbonyl and alpha-amino of participating amino acids

42
Q

amino acids are linked by?

A

peptide bonds

43
Q

a functional protein consists of?

A

one or more polypeptides twisted, folded, and coiled into a unique shape
- a polypeptide is NOT a protein. A couple of polypeptides together, twisted makes a protein

44
Q

What is some significant information about proteins?

A
  • The sequence of amino acids determines a proteins 3-D structure
  • A protein’s structure determines its function
  • its function depends on its ability to recognize and bind to some other molecules
45
Q

what is the primary structure of a protein?

A

is its unique sequence of amino acids

  • the sequence of amino acids is like the order of letters in a long word
  • determined by inherited genetic information
46
Q

what is the secondary structure of a protein?

A

found in most proteins, consists of coils and folds in the polypeptide chain

47
Q

what is the tertiary structure of a protein?

A

is determined by interactions among various side chains (R groups)

48
Q

what is the quaternary structure of a protein?

A

quaternary structure results when a protein consists of multiple polypeptide chains

49
Q

what is denaturation?

A

this loss of proteins native structure is denaturation

- a denatured protein is biologically inactive

50
Q

what are chaperonins?

A

are protein molecules that assist the proper folding of other proteins

51
Q

what are prions?

A

are improperly folded forms of normal proteins that are present in healthy individuals

  • prions can induce normal protein molecules to change their shape to the altered form
  • amino acid sequence does not differ from a normal protein, but shape is radically different
52
Q

what is X-ray crystallography?

A

scientist use this to determine a proteins structure

53
Q

what are the two types of nucleic acids?

A
  1. deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

2. ribonucleic acid (RNA)

54
Q

what is DNA?

A

DNA provides directions for its own replication
DNA directs synthesis of messenger RNA and through mRNA controls protein synthesis
- protein synthesis occurs in ribosomes

55
Q

what are nucleic acids?

A

are polymers specialized for the storage, transmission, ad use of genetic information

  • polymers of nucleic acids are called Polynucleotides
  • monomers are called nucleotides
56
Q

what is a nucleoside?

A

nucleoside = nitrogenous base + sugar

57
Q

what are the two families of the nitrogenous bases?

A
  1. Pyrimidines : (cytosine, thymine and uracil) have a single six-membered ring
  2. Purines: (adenine and guanine) have a six-membered ring fused to a five-membered ring
58
Q

what is a nucleotide?

A

nucleoside + phosphate group = nucleotide

59
Q

what are phosphodiester linkages?

A

the backbone of RNA and DNA is a chain of sugars and phosphate groups by phosphodiester linkages

  • the phosphate groups link carbon 3’ in one sugar to carbon 5’ in another sugar
  • this is why the two DNA strands run in opposite directions (antiparallel)