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BIOL 202 Midterm > Molecules of Life > Flashcards

Molecules of Life Flashcards

1
Q

What is a macromolecule?

A

It is a big molecule made from smaller units named monomer.

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2
Q

What is monomer?

A

It is the smallest unit also called building blocks and where many monomers form polymers.

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3
Q

What is a starch?

A

It is a polymer made from glucose monomer. Starch is glucose molecules covalently bounded.

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4
Q

What is the function of carbohydrate and what is the chemical reaction?

A

To fuel and structure your body. eg: glucose
The C and H bonds store energy and by the cellular respiration, the chemical bonds in glucose are broken down to create energy.

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5
Q

Of what carbohydrate is made of?

A

C, H & O. It is a polymer made of sugar units.

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6
Q

What is the different between monosaccharide, disaccharide and polysaccharide?

A

Monosaccharide: eg: fructose and glucose (building blocks). It is 1 sugar molecule that has the same chemical formula but different shapes and properties.
Disaccharide: eg: sucrose and lactose. There are 2 sugars bonded.
Polysaccharide: This is a complex carbohydrate (starch).

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7
Q

What is the difference between short-term and long-term energy?

A

Short-term: high rush that drops fast

Long-term: Slow rush and keep same energy for long

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8
Q

What happens to the excess of glucose?

A

It is also called “blood sugar” and is a fuel for cellular activity. For temporary storage, it will be transforms into glycogen and for long-term storage, it will be transformed as fat.

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9
Q

What is glycogen?

A

Glycogen is a complex carbohydrate molecule with glucose.

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10
Q

Which molecule is not digestible for humans?

A

Carbohydrates because it is usually a structural material for invertebrate animals and plants called chitin. It is basically a shell or tree bark. Cellulose which is really close to starch is also not digestible.

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11
Q

What is cellulose?

A

It is the major component for plant cell wall that provides structural support. It’s the major component of wood, a source of pulp and paper. It is also the major component in cotton.

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12
Q

What is the difference and resemblance between starch and cellulose?

A

Both made of glucose monomer. However, starch is digested by mammals, whereas cellulose is not.

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13
Q

What are lipids?

A

Mostly made with C & H bonded by non-polar covalent bonds and is hydrophobic. There are 3 main types of lipids: fats & oil, sterols and phospholipids. Fat and oil have a long term energy storage & insulation. Sterols regulates growth and development and phospholipids form cellular membranes.

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14
Q

Describe oil and fats.

A

Fats = solid in room temperate
Oil = liquid in room temperature
It is a long-term energy storage and insulation
In its structure, the head is hydrophilic and made of glycerol and the tail is hydrophobic made of 3 fatty acids chains.

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15
Q

What is a fatty acid?

A

It is saturated fats with no double bounds. or unsaturated fats with 1 or more double bounds.

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16
Q

Why are saturated fats dangerous for you?

A

Because it increases the bad LDL cholesterol and increases the risks of coronary heart disease. You are also more likely to store it as fat.

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17
Q

How can you identify saturated fats?

A

It has no double bonds, it solidifies at room temperature and it is often animal fats.

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18
Q

What is the difference between LDL and HDL cholesterol?

A

LDL increases plaque build up in the blood vessel which make it bad and HDL decreases and clean up the plaque.

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19
Q

Why is plaque dangerous?

A

It can cut off oxygen supply and cause damage or death to the heart tissue.

20
Q

How do you recognize unsaturated fat?

A

It bends in fat acids and has a double bond that replaces hydrogen in fatty acid. It is often vegetable oil or fish oil.

21
Q

What are the advantages of unsaturated fat?

A

It increases HDL cholesterol, therefore reduces risks of heart diseases and is less likely to store as fat.

22
Q

What are trans fat?

A

They are an artificial addition of hydrogen atoms called hydrogenation to make fat more saturated giving more flavor, texture and sheif-life. It can be found in hydrogenated vegetable oil.

23
Q

Why are trans fat dangerous?

A

It is the worst form of fat because it increases LDL cholesterol and decreases HDL, therefore increases the chances to get heart diseases.

24
Q

What are the 7 functions of proteins in the living organism?

A
  • Structure (hair, fingernails, tendons, etc.)
  • Protection (help system fight, coagulate)
  • Regulation (control cell activity)
  • Contraction
  • Transportation of molecules
  • Storage
  • Facilitate chemical reactions (enzymes)
25
Q

What are amino acids?

A

They are the monomer units of proteins

26
Q

How many different amino acids exists?

A

There are 20 different amino acids and they differ from each other in side chain composition.

27
Q

Why are amino acids essential?

A

Because they help for growth, repair and replacement.

28
Q

How can you get all 20 amino acids?

A

The human body doesn’t produce all 20 amino acids, therefore it needs to be part of our diet.

29
Q

What is the difference between complete and incomplete proteins?

A

Complete proteins have all essential amino acids and is usually found in animal products. Incomplete proteins are usually from plant sources but can be combined to procure all 20 called complementary proteins.

30
Q

Describe the primary structure of proteins.

A

The sequence of amino acids in polypeptide are similar to letters spelling a word. Therefore, if there is one mistake in a letter, the chain will not work. It in joined by a covalent bond called peptide bond. Its property is determined by primary sequence.

31
Q

Describe the secondary structure of proteins.

A

It is created by hydrogen bonds between the amino acids in polypeptide chain. There are 2 basic patterns: the aplha-helix in coil shape and the beta-sheet in zig-zag folding.

32
Q

Describe the tertiary structure of proteins.

A

It is made by hydrogen bonds and covalent sulfur-sulfur bonds. The folding and bonding of the secondary and tertiary structures will create a 3D structure.

33
Q

Describe the quaternary structure.

A

It is usually 2 or more polypeptide chains bonded together and function as one functional unit. Each polypeptide is called subunit.

34
Q

What does denaturation do to the protein structure?

A

In extreme environment conditions like temperature or pH, the protein structure unfolds and is irreversibly disrupted from its shape and function.

35
Q

Describe protein digestion.

A

It is the process of protein denaturation where the digestive enzymes break up proteins into amino acids. Amino acids are then used as raw material to make new proteins or used as an energy source.

36
Q

What are enzymes?

A

Enzymes are an important class of proteins that facilitate chemical reactions. There are two types: material that enzymes work on and binds to active site and products that are the material after the chemical reaction.

37
Q

What is activation energy?

A

It is a chemical reactions in the organism that either release or consume energy. Reactions sometimes need a push to initiate the reaction which is the activation energy. Enzymes act as a catalyst by lowering the activation energy.

38
Q

What are the chemical and physical factors that influence enzyme activity?

A
  1. enzyme ? sustrate concentration
  2. Temperature
  3. pH
  4. Presence of inhibitors or activators
39
Q

What is the enzyme activity?

A

It is the rate which enzyme catalyzes reaction influence by the chemical and physical factors. The rate of reaction increases with the addition of enzymes or substrate causing the increased rate of collision between enzyme and substrate molecules.

40
Q

How does temperature affect the activation energy?

A

The reaction rates increases the temperature to the optimal temperature for enzyme. It will often lose its shape or denature after the reaction rate decrease.

41
Q

What is the role of nucleic acids?

A

It encodes information on how to build and run the body and carry the genetic information. It also play a central role in directing protein production.

42
Q

What are nucleotides and what is the structure?

A

They are the building blocks of nucleic acids. There are 3 parts: the phosphate group, sugar, nitrogen and containing base.

43
Q

How is DNA formed?

A

The phosphate group and sugar of nucleotides are joined by covalent bonds. Nitrogen containing bases are exposed and pared with another strand of DNA by hydrogen bonds.
It is also double helix where 2-sugar phosphate backbone form the DNA and are connected by the bases sticking out from the sugar molecules.

44
Q

What are base-pairing and complementary base?

A

Base-pairing are the 2 complementary base in the opposite direction on a same stick.
The complementary bases are the pairing that never changes.
C - G
G - C
T - A
A - T

45
Q

What are the differences between DNA and RNA?

A

The DNA has 2 strands and is composed of CGAT. It stores genetic information (archive) and contains information of more than 1,000 genes.
RNA has only 1 strand and is composed of CGAU. It directs production of protein based on DNA information and act as a working copy. It only contains information for one gene. RNA is a universal translator.

46
Q

What is transcription?

A

It is a working copy of the genetic information copied into RNA using the complementary base paring.

BIOL 202 Midterm (5 decks)

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