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Biology 121 > Study Questions #2 > Flashcards

Study Questions #2 Flashcards

September 4-7

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1
Q

What are hydrophobic interactions, and why are they important for living organisms?

A

Hydrophobic molecules are nonpolar. Hydrophobic interactions are two nonpolars interacting. Water excludes these molecules and forces them to associate together. This is how the final shapes of biopolymers.

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2
Q

Why do water and oil separate after you shake them up?

A

Water pushes oil away because it can’t hydrogen bond with oil.

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3
Q

What is a mole (to a chemist)?

A

quantity of a chemical that contains avogadro’s number of molecules(easier to weigh molecules than count them)

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4
Q

What is pH and why is it important to living organisms?

A

Power of Hydrogen. Measures how acidic something is. most reactions in the body have an optimal pH at which they operate best so pH must remain constant. pH= -log[H]

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5
Q

What is the difference in [H+] between a solution whose pH is 5 and a solution whose pH is 8?

A
  1. 10 fold increase between each pH.
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6
Q

What is a buffer?

A

minimizes changes in pH. A H+ resvoir donating or receiving as needed to keep pH constant.

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7
Q

Why is life based on carbon?

A

carbon can be assembled into large macromolecules; forms backbone of these molecules. Carbs, Lipids, Proteins, Nucleic acids

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8
Q

What is a functional group (in organic chemistry) and why are they so important?

A

groups of atoms that confer certain chemical properties

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9
Q

List the 7 most important functional groups in biological molecules.

A

hydroxyl(-OH), Sulfhydryl(-SH), Carbonyl(C=O),phosphate(-PO4), Carboxyl(-COOH), methyl(-CH3), Amino(-NH2)

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10
Q

What is a macromolecule, and what features do all macromolecules have in common?

A

large molecule; polymer of similar polar units

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11
Q

What types of macromolecules do you find in living organisms?

A

monomers- monosachharide,amino acid,fatty acid and glycerol, nucleotides Polymer-polysaccharide,fat,protein,nucleic

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12
Q

What is a dehydration reaction?

A

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

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13
Q

What is an anabolic reaction?

A

Builds larger molecules from smaller molecules

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14
Q

What is a hydrolytic reaction?

A

when water is added to a polymer to split it apart

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15
Q

What is a carbohydrate, and what functions do carbohydrates perform?

A

Sugars. Store energy, structural, signaling

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16
Q

Why are carbohydrates good for storing energy?

A

large number of C-H bonds

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17
Q

What is an isomer?

A

Compound with same structural formula, but arranged differently

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18
Q

What is the difference between a structural isomer and a stereoisomer?

A

Structural- functional groups on different C Stereoisomer- functional groups attached to same carbon but in a different orientation.

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19
Q

What is a transport dissacharide?

A

disaccharides made by plants to keep sugars from being broken down as they pass through the plant. Maximizes the amount of sugar that is stored in the root

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20
Q

What is the difference between starch, glycogen and cellulose?

A

All are glucose polymers.
difference between alpha and beta- when glucose forms a ring the OH group is either below(alpha) or above(beta) the plane of the ring.

starches- glucose joined by 1-4 alpha links (C1 bonds to C4 of next glucose) (coil in water because glucoses bond to each other instead of water- makes them insoluble- slows hydrolysis)

glycogen- branched starch from animals- branches by 1-6 alpha links, this makes it soluble

cellulose- glucose joined by 1-4 beta links(glucose alternate C6 up then C6 down)- forms chains instead of coils- glucose hydrogen bond adjacent chains- beta 1-4links makes it hard to digest

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21
Q

Why is starch insoluble in water?

A

Its nonpolar and forms coils.

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22
Q

What is carbo-loading and how does it work?

A

strategy used by athletes
maximizes storage of glycogen in the muscles as a source of energy
diet night before race; fruits, vegetables, whole wheat and grains

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23
Q

Why is it so much harder to digest cellulose then starch?

A

Cellulose is formed from beta glucose and few organisms have the enzyme to break it down

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24
Q

Why do beans give you gas?

A

beans contain roffinase sugars with alpha galactose 1-6 links that humans cannot digest easily; bacteria can ferment the sugar giving off CO2 gas

25
Q

What are proteins and what functions do they perform?

A

polymers of amino acids; structural, energy storage, catalysts(enzymes), signaling, transporter, defense(antibodies)

26
Q

What are amino acids and what are the five groups of amino acids.

A

building blocks of proteins; 20 different; ionizable; polar, but uncharged ; nonpolar; aromatic; special function

27
Q

Why do we say that proteins are made of “N to C”

A

proteins are made n to c. link amino of one amino acid to COOH of chain; amino is nose, carboxyl is tail. Dog sled example: the second dog’s nose is attached to the first dog’s tail.

28
Q

Why is the structure of a protein so important?

A

structure determines function

29
Q

What is the difference between the primary and secondary structure of protein?

A

primary structure is the amino acid sequence of a protein; secondary structure is when the primary structure hydrogen bonds to itself between amino and carboxyl groups to form alpha helix and beta pleated sheets.

30
Q

What is the difference between the secondary and tertiary structure of protein?

A

secondary structure is when the primary structure hydrogen bonds to itself between amino and carboxyl groups to form alpha coils and beta sheets; tertiary structure is when water bends secondary structure due to interactions with R groups.

31
Q

What is the quaternary structure of a protein?

A

Quaternary structure is final shape of protein with two or more subunits (polypeptide chains or chains of amino acids)

32
Q

What is a motif, and what is a domain and how do they differ (when talking about protein structure)?

A

motif- combo of secondary structures- can’t function independently(ex: key on keyboard)- used to infer functions of unknown proteins

domains- structurally independent units- connected by single polypeptide chain- fold and function independently- many proteins have several domains

33
Q

Why do proteins fold into their tertiary structure?

A

interactions with water and R groups; push nonpolars to middle; pull hydrophilic amino acids outward

34
Q

What types of bonds help proteins maintain their tertiary structure?

A

hydrogen bonds with water, between N to C of backbone between R groups

Ionic bonds between acids and bases R groups

Vanderwaals interactions

Disulfide bridges between cysteine residues

35
Q

Why do proteins fold into their final structure faster than we expect?

A

chaperonins help; temperature, pH, [salt], and nonpolar solvents also affect how fast they fold

36
Q

What are nucleic acids?

A

polymers of nucleotides

37
Q

What are the functions of DNA?

A

stores genetic information in its sequence of nucleotides

38
Q

What are the functions of RNA?

A

retrieves information

39
Q

What are nucleic acids made of?

A

Nucleotides, which are composed of a sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogen containing base

40
Q

What are the two kinds of bases found in nucleic acids?

A

pyrimidines, purines

41
Q

What bases do you find in DNA and what bases do you find in RNA?

A

A,C,T,G - DNA; A,C,U,G- RNA

42
Q

What functions do bases serve in nucleic acids?

A

order of bases stores genetic information

43
Q

What is the primary structure of a nucleic acid?

A

Code of nucleotides

44
Q

Why do we say that nucleic acids are made 5’ to 3’?

A

phosphodiester bonds link PO4 on 5’C to 3’OH at end

45
Q

Why do we care that nucleic acids are made 5’ to 3’?

A
  • 2 DNA form double helix- hydrogen bonds between bases link them, Strands go opposite ways, each strand is the reverse and complement to the other
46
Q

What are the main differences between DNA and RNA?

A
  1. Single and Double Strand
  2. U instead of T
  3. deoxyribose sugar and ribose sugar
47
Q

What holds the backbone of nucleic acid together?

A

sugar and phosphate

48
Q

What is the third degree structure of of a DNA molecule?

A

double helix

49
Q

What holds the two strands of a DNA molecule together?

A

hydrogen bonds

50
Q

Why can’t RNA form a double helix?

A

RNA is single stranded, ribose too big and bulky

51
Q

Why does RNA adopt complicated shapes?

A

sequence of bases (A,U,C,G). gives it shape to interact with other molecules, allows catalytic activity

52
Q

What is a ribosome?

A

a biological catalyst made of RNA

53
Q

Why do most biologists believe that RNA became before DNA?

A

Rna came first, RNA synthases are older than DNA synthases, DNA evolved to protect genome because it is a more chemically stable compound

54
Q

Why does Benedict’s reagent react with glucose but not with starch?

A

Glucose is a reduced sugar, benedict’s reacts with a free aldehyde group; however starch is not a reduced sugar and has no free aldehyde group

55
Q

Why does iodine stain starch but not glucose?

A

iodine fits between coils of starch but glucose itself has no coils

56
Q

Why does Bradford’s reagent detect proteins?

A

reacts with amino groups

57
Q

Why does the Sudan dye detect lipids?

A

It is hydrophobic

58
Q

Why does diphenylamine detect DNA but not RNA?

A

reacts with deoxyribose

59
Q

Why did some amino acids travel farther up the TLC plates than others?

A

some are more attracted to solvent than silica gel on the TLC plate

Biology 121 (9 decks)

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