Chapter 5: The Structure and Function of Large Biological Molecules Flashcards

1
Q

macromolecule

A
  • a giant molecule formed by the joining of smaller molecules, usually by a dehydration reaction
  • polysaccharides, proteins, nucleic acids
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2
Q

polymer

A

a long molecule consisting of many similar or identical monomers linked together by covalent bonds

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3
Q

monomer

A

the subunit that serves as the building block of a polymer

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4
Q

enzyme

A
  • a macromolecule serving as a catalyst, a chemical agent that increases the rate of a reaction without being consumed by the reaction
  • most are proteins
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5
Q

dehydration reaction

A

a chemical reaction in which two molecules become covalently bonded to each other with the removal of a water molecule

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6
Q

hydrolysis

A

a chemical reaction that breaks bonds between two molecules by the addition of water

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7
Q

carbohydrate

A

a sugar (monosaccharide) or one of its dimers (disaccharides) or polymers (polysaccharides)

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8
Q

monosaccharide

A
  • the simplest carbohydrate, active alone of serving as a monomer for disaccharides and polysaccharides
  • aka simple sugars
  • have molecular formulas that are generally some multiple of CH2O
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9
Q

polysaccharide

A

a polymer of many monosaccharides, formed by dehydration reactions

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10
Q

glucose (C6H12O6)

A

the most common monosaccharide

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11
Q

disaccharide

A

a double sugar, consisting of two monosaccharides joined by a glycosidic linkage formed by a dehydration reaction

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12
Q

glycosidic linkage

A

a covalent bond formed between two monosaccharides by a dehydration reaction

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13
Q

starch

A

a storage polysaccharide in plants, consisting entirely of glucose monomers joined by glycosidic linkages

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14
Q

amylose

A

an enzyme that hydrolyzes starch (a glucose polymer from plants) and glycogen (a glucose polymer from animals) into smaller polysaccharides and the disaccharide maltose

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15
Q

glycogen

A
  • an extensively branched glucose storage polysaccharide found in the liver and muscle of animals
  • the animal equivalent of starch
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16
Q

cellulose

A

a structural polysaccharide of plant cell walls, consisting of glucose monomers joined by B glycosidic linkages

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17
Q

chitin

A

a structural polysaccharide, consisting of amino sugar monomers, found in many fungal cells walls and in the exoskeletons of all arthropods

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18
Q

lipid

A

any of a group of large biological molecules, including fats, phospholipids, and steroids, that mix poorly, if at all, with water

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19
Q

fat

A
  • a lipid consisting of three fatty acids linked to one glycerol molecule
  • aka a triacylglycerol or triglyceride
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20
Q

glycerol

A

a three-carbon alcohol with a hydroxyl group attached to each carbon

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21
Q

fatty acid

A
  • a carboxylic acid with a long carbon chain
  • vary in length and in the number and location of double bonds
  • three linked to a glycerol molecule form a fat molecule, also called a triacylglycerol or triglyceride
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22
Q

triacylglycerol (triglyceride)

A
  • a lipid consisting of three fatty acids linked to one glycerol molecule
  • aka a fat
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23
Q

saturated fatty acid

A

a fatty acid in which all carbons in the hydrocarbon tail are connected

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24
Q

unsaturated fatty acid

A
  • a fatty acid that has one or more double bonds between carbons in the hydrocarbon tail
  • such bonding reduces the number of hydrogen atoms attached to the carbon skeleton
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25
Q

saturated fats

A
  • fats made from saturated fatty acids that are solid at room temperature
  • most animal fats
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26
Q

unsaturated fats

A
  • fats made from unsaturated fatty acids that are liquid at room temperature
  • plant fats and fish fats
  • oils
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27
Q

hydrogenation

A

the process of converting unsaturated fats to saturated fats by adding hydrogen

28
Q

energy storage

A

the major function of fats

29
Q

adipose cells

A

where humans and other mammals store their long-term food reserves

30
Q

adipose tissue

A
  • a connective tissue that insulates the body and serves as a fuel reserve
  • contain fat-storing cells called adipose cells
31
Q

phospholipid

A
  • a lipid made up of glycerol joined to two fatty acids and a phosphate group
  • the hydrocarbon chains of the fatty acids act as nonpolar, hydrophobic tails, while the rest of the molecule acts as a polar, hydrophilic head
  • form bilayers that function as biological membranes
32
Q

steroid

A

a type of lipid characterizes by a carbon skeleton consisting of four fused rings with various chemical groups attached

33
Q

cholesterol

A

a steroid that forms an essential component of animal cell membranes and acts as a precursor molecule for the synthesis of other biologically important steroids, such as many hormones

34
Q

protein

A

a biologically functional molecule consisting of one or more polypeptides folded and coiled into a specific three-dimensional structure

35
Q

enzymatic proteins

A
  • function: selective acceleration of chemical reactions
36
Q

defensive proteins

A
  • function: protection against disease
37
Q

storage proteins

A
  • function: storage of amino acids
38
Q

transport proteins

A
  • function: transport of substances
39
Q

hormonal proteins

A
  • function: coordination of an organism’s activities
40
Q

receptor proteins

A
  • function: response of cell to chemical stimuli
41
Q

contractile and motor proteins

A
  • function: movement
42
Q

structural proteins

A
  • function: support
43
Q

polypeptide

A

a polymer of many amino acid linked together by peptide bonds

44
Q

peptide bond

A

the covalent bond between amino acids

45
Q

amino acid

A
  • an organic molecule possessing both a carboxyl and an amino group
  • serve as the monomers of polypeptides
46
Q

functional protein

A

consists of one or more polypeptides precisely twisted, folded, and coiled into a unique shape

47
Q

sickle-cell disease

A
  • an inherited blood disorder that results from a single amino acid substitution in the protein hemoglobin
  • the abnormal hemoglobin molecules cause the red blood cells to aggregate into chains and to deform into a sickle shape
48
Q

denaturation

A

in proteins, a process in which a protein loses its native shape due to the disruption of weak chemical bonds and interactions, thereby becoming biologically inactive

49
Q

x-ray crystallography

A
  • a technique used to study the three-dimensional structure of molecules
  • depends on the diffraction of an x-ray beam by the individual atoms of a crystallized molecule
50
Q

nucleic acid

A
  • a polymer (polynucleotide) consisting of many nucleotide monomers
  • serves as a blueprint for proteins and, through the actions of proteins, for all cellular activities
  • two types are DNA and RNA
51
Q

gene expression

A

the process by which information encoded in DNA directs the synthesis of proteins or, in some cases, RNAs that are not translated into proteins and instead function as RNAs

52
Q

the flow of genetic information

A

DNA -> RNA -> protein

53
Q

polynucleotide

A
  • a polymer consisting of many nucleotide monomers in a chain
  • the nucleotides can be those of DNA or RNA
54
Q

nucleotide

A

the building bloc of a nucleic acid, consisting of a five-carbon sugar covalently bonded to a nitrogenous base and one to three phosphate groups

55
Q

nucleoside

A

the portion of a nucleotide without the phosphate group
- nitrogenous base + sugar

56
Q

pyrimidine

A
  • one of two types of nitrogenous bases found in nucleotides, characterized by a six-membered ring
  • cytosine (C), thymine (T), uracil (U)
57
Q

purine

A
  • one of two types of nitrogenous bases found in nucleotides, characterized by a six-membered ring fused to a five-membered ring
  • adenine (A), guanine (G)
58
Q

deoxyribose

A

the sugar component of DNA nucleotides, having one fewer hydroxyl group than ribose, the sugar component of RNA nucleotides

59
Q

ribose

A

the sugar in RNA

60
Q

double helix

A

the form of native DNA, referring to its two adjacent antiparallel polynucleotide strands wound around an imaginary axis into a spiral shape

61
Q

antiparallel

A

an arrangement where the backbones of DNA molecules run in opposite 5’ -> 3’ directions from each other

62
Q

complementary base pairing

A

only certain bases in DNA pair up and form hydrogen bonds:
- adenine (A) always with thymine (T)
- guanine (G) always with cytosine (C)
this feature of DNA structure makes it possible to generate two identical copies of each DNA molecule in a cell preparing to divide

63
Q

uracil (U)

A

in RNA, thymine (T) is replaced by __________, which always pairs with adenine (A)

64
Q

genomics

A

the systematic study of whole sets of genes (or other DNA) and their interactions within a species, as well as genome comparisons between species

65
Q

proteomics

A

the systematic study of sets of proteins and their properties, including their abundance, chemical modifications, and interactions