Chapter 5.1-5.3 - Building Biological Molecules Flashcards
Monomers
The repeating units that serve as the building blocks of a polymer
Polymer
Chains of monomers
Polymerization
Polymer Synthesis
Facilitated by enzymes
Macromolecules
Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acid
Dehydration Reaction
A reaction in which two molecules are covalently bonded to each other with the loss of a molecule
Enzymes
Specialized monomers that speed up chemical reactions
Hydrolysis (Depolymerization)
A process that is essentially the reverse of the dehydration reaction. It means water breakage. Catalyzed by enzymes
Carbohydrates
- sugars and starches
- used by cells to store energy
- cell-cell communication
- monosaccharides
Monosaccharide
Carbohydrate monomer (simple sugars) ex: glucose most popular.
Glucose
- 6 carbon sugar
- exists in both linear and ring form
Monosaccharides differ in:
- Number of carbons
- Position of carbonyl group
- Arrangement of functional groups
Disaccharide (3)
- 2 monosaccharides
- linked by covalent bond; glycosidic bond
- bond formed by dehydration reaction.
Polysaccharide (5)
- carbonate polymer
- formed by a dehydration reaction
- monomers joined by glycosidic Bonds
- they’re short polymers (oligosaccharides)
- storage and structural molecules of cell
Starch
A polymer of glucose monomers
Glycogen
A polymer of glucose that is like amylopectin but more extensively branched