Macromolecules Flashcards
What is the majority of a molecule made of?
Proteins
What’s the phenomenon that happens when 2 monomers react together?
Condensation
What is condensation/dehydration?
It’s when 2 monomers react with one another and one loses an H and the other loses an OH (basically water is removed)
What’s the reverse reaction of condensation?
Hydrolysis
What are proteins made of?
Amino acids
Why is folding so important in proteins?
Folding helps create new bonds, therefore make a bigger molecule
What are the 6 ways amino acids are classified?
- 5 have charged hydrophilic side chains
- 5 have uncharged hydrophilic (polar) side chains
- 7 have hydrophobic (nonpolar) side chains
- Cysteine has a terminal disulfide (—S—S—)
- Glycine has a hydrogen atom as the R group
- Proline has a modified amino group that forms a covalent bond with the R group, forming a ring
What differentiates proline from the other exceptions?
It forms a ring, that includes the amino group
What are the bonds that keep amino acids together?
Peptide bonds
What are the common secondary structures of proteins?
- α-helix (alpha-helix)
- β-pleated sheet (beta-pleated sheet)
What is a α-helix?
- one single strand
- right-handed coil
- held together by H-bonds
What is a β-pleated sheet?
-A single strand that lies parallel to each other and that is pleated
What is a tertiary structure?
One peptide chain that is held together by
- H-bonds
- Disulfide bridges
- van Der waals bonds
- ionic bonds
- aggregation of hydrophobic side chains
What is a primary structure?
A loose strand of peptide bonds
What can affect the shape of a protein?
- changes in temp.
- changes in pH
- changes in salt concentration
- changes in oxidation or reduction conditions
What are chaperonins for?
Control the folding of proteins
What are carbohydrates?
- First source of energy
-C molecules with H groups or hydroxyl groups
What are the 4 major categories of carbohydrates?
- Monosaccharides
- Disaccharides
- Oligosaccharides
- Polysaccharides
What bond keeps monosaccharides together?
Glycocidic bonds
What are the types of monosaccharides (that I need to know)?
- Pentoses: includes ribose and deoxyribose
- Hexoses: includes glucose
What is the ratio of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in a carbohydrate?
1 C:2 H:1 O
What is the difference between ribose and deoxyribose?
Ribose has an O bonded to its H but deoxyribose doesn’t
Name 2 Disaccharides.
Sucrose and lactose
What is the job of oligosaccharides?
- Are on cells and act as recognition signals
- The ABO blood types owe their specificity to them
Which glucose form is more stable?
Ring form
What are the 3 types of polysaccharides?
- Starch: Storage for glucose in plants
- Glycogen: Storage for glucose in animals
- Cellulose (fiber): very stable, good for structure components in plants
What does hydrolyze mean?
Breaking a molecule
What are the types of glycosidic bonds?
alpha (α) and beta (β) glycosidic bonds
Which glycosidic bond can’t be broken (hydrolyzed) by the enzymes in animals?
β-glycosidic (beta) bonds
Where is glycogen stored?
In the liver
When can polysaccharides be used as energy?
When they are branched to another polysaccharide.
What is chitin?
- It is a modified carbohydrate
How are lipids made?
fatty-acids + glycerol = lipids
What differentiates lipids from other macromolecules?
They do not consist of polymers
What’s the second source of energy organisms?
Fats and oils
Describe glycerol and fatty acids.
-Glycerol: 3 carbon chain with 1 hydroxyl group attached to each carbon
- Fatty acids: Long chains of hydrocarbons (C-H) with a carboxyl group
What bonds fatty acids and glycerol together?
Ester bonds (—O—)
What are saturated fatty acids?
- C are bonded through single bonds
- Each C atoms have the maximum number of H that they can take (saturated with H)
What are unsaturated fatty acids?
- Have at least one double bond
- Not completely saturated with hydrogen
Why are unsaturated fatty acids liquid?
The cis double bond causes a bent in the molecules, which makes it harder for them to brick together
Describe phospholipids.
- 2 hydrophobic fatty acid tails
- 1 hydrophilic phosphate group attached to the glycerol
How can the fact that phospholipids are both hydrophobic and hydrophilic be described in one word?
Amphipathic
What are steroids?
Signaling molecules/hormones
What steroid is the base of all hormones?
Cholesterol
What are the lipid-soluble vitamins?
A, D, E and K
What vitamins are water-soluble?
B and C
Vitamin B and C can be stored in the body. True or False. Explain.
False. They’re not lipid soluble and only lipid soluble vitamins can be stored in the body
What are waxes made of?
Saturated long fatty acids+ fatty alcohols = waxes
What bond keeps wax together?
Ester bonds
What Are the most known nucleic acids?
DNA and RNA
What are the monomers of RNA and DNA?
Nucleotides
What do nucleotides consist of?
Pentose group, phosphate group, nitrogen-containing base
What sugars do RNA and DNA use?
RNA: ribose
DNA: deoxyribose
What are pyrimidines?
Cytosine (C), Thymine (T), and Uracil (U)
What are purines?
Adenine (A) and Guanine (G)
What is the backbone of RNA and DNA made of and what bonds link the structure?
Sugars and phosphate groups which are bound by phosphodiester bonds
What bases does DNA use?
Adenine (A), Cytosine (C), Guanine (G) and Thymine (T)
How are the bases paired in DNA?
A-T and C-G
How are the bases of DNA bound together?
H-bonds
Of how many strands is DNA made of?
2
What is DNA’s primary and secondary structure?
Primary: The sequence of bases
Secondary: The 2 strands of the DNA form a double helix (opposite direction)
What bases does RNA use?
Adenine (A), Cytosine (C), Guanine (G) and Uracil (U)
What are the pairs of bases for RNA?
A-U and C-G
How many H-bonds are between each pair of bases?
A-U: 2 H-bonds
C-G: 3 H-bonds
Of how many strands is RNA made of?
1
What nucleotides can catalyze?
Ribozymes (RNA) molecules
How do RNA and DNA work?
DNA stores information in the order of the four bases and this order is transferred to RNA, which orders the amino acids in proteins
What is the job of ribose?
Make protein
