Unit #1 Flashcards

1
Q

What plays a central role in the coding of biological information?

A

The sequence of base pairs in a DNA molecule

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2
Q

How can you make a DNA model look more like RNA?

A

Change the deoxyribose to ribose by adding -OH groups

(Ribose sugars have -OH linked to them, deoxyribose do not)

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3
Q

What process adds a monosaccharide to an already existing polysaccharide?

A

Dehydration synthesis (opposite is hydrolysis.) An enzyme removes the hydrogen from the monosaccharide and the hydroxide from the polysaccharide which creates a bond between the two & also creating a water molecule

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4
Q

What’s dehydration synthesis?

A

When 2 monomers bond through the loss of a water molecule

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5
Q

What’s hydrolysis?

A

When a molecule’s bond is broken due to adding a molecule of water (opposite of dehydration synthesis)

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6
Q

Monosaccharide

A

A sugar that can’t be hydrolyzed/simplified into simpler sugars (ex. glucose, fructose, galactose, deoxyribose, ribose, etc)

Have molecular formulas that are usually multiples of CH2O

Glucose (C6H12O6) is the most common monosaccharide

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7
Q

Polysaccharide

A

3 or more monosaccharides linked together by a glycosidic linkage

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8
Q

Monomer

A

Atoms/small molecules that bond together to form polymers or more complex structures. They’re the building blocks. For example, the main four types of monomers consist of simple sugars, fatty acids (… sort of), amino acids and nucleotides

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9
Q

Polymer

A

Monomers bonded by a covalent bond, making polymers

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10
Q

Disaccharide

A

When two monosaccharides are joined by a glycosidic linkage

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11
Q

Glycosidic linkage

A

A link between two monosaccharides (an ester bond)

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12
Q

Is a glycosidic linkage covalent? Are monomers and monosaccharides, etc the same?

A

Yes to both. A glycosidic linkage is a type of covalent bond. Monomers are building blocks and a monosaccharides is one so yes. Polymers also is the same thing as polyssachrides, just a vaguer term

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13
Q

What’s cellulose?

A

Cellulose is a polyssacharide/polymer that consists of 3000 or more glucose monomers

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14
Q

If cattle were to lose the ability to maintain a colony of microorganisms (that produce enzyme B) in their digestive tract, what would occur?

A

The cattle would not longer be able to use cellulose as a main source of glucose because without enzyme B, cellulose wouldn’t be able to get digested

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15
Q

What breaks down carbs?

A

Enzymes break down carbs

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16
Q

How does the structure of ice benefit the organisms that live beneath the water?

A

The water molecules in ice are farther apart than those in liquid water, so when the ice floats, it maintains the warmer, denser water at the lake bottom

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17
Q

How is water pulled up through the xylem (inside the stem), to the leaves of the plant?

A

it’s pulled up through the xylem due to the hydrogen bonding between water molecules and cohesion

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18
Q

There are two plants, one is phosphorus sufficient and the other one is phosphorus starved. What is most likely the reason for the difference in leaf growth?

A

The growth was limited due to nucleic acids and lipids not being produced since phosphorus is used to produce both

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19
Q

What’s a peptide?

A

Short string of amino acids (polymer) which was formed due to dehydration synthesis and joined together by a covalent bond

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20
Q

What’s a polypeptide?

A

A continuous branch of amino acids made up of peptide bonds

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21
Q

What’s a dipeptide?

A

Two amino acid molecules linked by a peptide bond

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22
Q

What’s the difference between an ionic bond, a covalent bond and a hydrogen bond?

A

Ionic bonds: Atoms being held together by charge
Covalent: Pairs of electrons are shared by atoms
Hydrogen: Partial positive hydrogen is attracted/gets electrons taken away by a partial negative atom

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23
Q

Do any amino acids have phosphorus in them?

A

None at all. Nucleotides (monomers of nucleic acids) are the ones who do

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24
Q

What’s a key difference among the 20 amino acids that are used to make proteins?

A

10 out of 20 amino acids are hydrophobic due to non-polar R groups

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25
What are the nucleotides both in DNA and RNA?
DNA; Adenine (A), Thymine (T). Guanine (G), and Cytosine (C) RNA: Adenine (A), Uracil (U), Guanine (G), and Cytosine (C)
26
What are the building blocks for each macromolecule?
Lipids; Fatty acids and glycerol Proteins; Amino acids Nucleic acids; Nucleotides Carbohydrates; Monosaccharides/Simple sugars
27
Hydrophillic
Likes water
28
Hydrophobic
Dislikes water
29
Polar
Has a charge
30
Non-polar
No charge
31
Hydrocarbon
A compound consisting of ONLY hydrogen and carbon atoms
32
How's water able to move upward from the roots of a plant, through its xylem in the stem, and out to the leaves?
Water and xylem are both polar. The water molecules have the ability to form hydrogen bonds with each other and the xylem's walls
33
How does amino acid result in decreased catalytic activity by a mutated enzyme?
The substitution of the enzyme alters the secondary and tertiary structure of the enzyme so the mutated enzyme folds into a different shape than the normal one
34
What's substitution?
A type of mutation of which a nucleotide is replaced by another different one
35
Why does bile salt cause sulfur powder to sink?
Bile salt interferes with hydrogen bonds which reduces the surface tension. That allows the sulfur powder to sink
36
An amino acid is found in a region of a polypeptide that folds away from water. What part of the amino acid most likely contributes to the hydrophobic behavior of this region of the polypeptide?
The methyl group because it makes the region of the polypeptide more hydrophobic due to the group being non-polar. Also one of the functional groups that differentiate the 20 amino acids found in proteins
37
What results in the formation of a triplex DNA structure?
Nucleotides don't form between complementary strands of DNA meanwhile hydrogen bonds form between the bases on complementary strands of DNA
38
Which one contains phosphorus; DNA or simple carbohydrates?
DNA, simple carbohydrates usually do not
39
Why do guanine-cytosine pairs denature at higher temperatures?
The only bonds that form between base pairs are hydrogen bonds. Guanine-cytosine has three hydrogen bonds meanwhile adenine-thymine have two. This means that guanine-cytosine denature at a higher temperature because of the three hydrogen bonds
40
Denature
The breaking up or unfolding of a protein. A denatured protein is biologically inactive
41
Non-polar is...
Hydrophobic. Same thing applies with polar being hydrophilic
42
What results in hydrogen bonding in water molecules?
Polar covalent bonds (atoms that have a charge to which are bonded and share electrons)
43
Is water a polar or non-polar molecule?
Polar. The overall charge is unevenly distributed due to the oxygen
44
What are the four properties of water that life depend on?
Cohesive behavior, the ability for water to moderate its own temperature, expansion upon freezing (the water molecules being more organized and expanded in ice which gives it less density than liquid water), and versatility as a solvent
45
Cohesion
When water molecules are held together by their hydrogen bonds
46
Adhesion
An attraction between different substances
47
Surface tension
A measure of how hard it is to break the surface of a liquid. Cohesion between water molecules make up surface tension in water
48
Oxygen in a water molecule...
Holds onto electrons for longer, giving it a partial negative charge (known as electronegativity.) The oxygen acts as a negative charge
49
Hydrogen in a water molecule...
Acts a positive charge because it has protons for a while
50
Polar covalent
Unequal sharing of electrons
51
Particles
Atoms, neutrons, electrons, protons, ions, etc
52
Ion
An atom or group of atoms that either have a positive or negative charge (+ is cation, - is anion.) They're formed by the loss or gain of electrons. They contain an uneven number of protons and electrons More protons = positive charge (cation) More electrons = negative charge (anion)O
53
Proton
A sub-atomic particle that has a positive charge
54
Neutron
A sub-atomic particle that has a neutral charge
55
Electron
A sub-atomic particle that has a negative charge
56
Kinetic energy
Energy an object has due to motion
57
Thermal energy
Kinetic energy that's involved with random motion of molecules or atoms
58
Temperature
A measure of energy that shows the average kinetic energy of molecules that are in a body of matter (ex. water)
59
Heat
The transfer of thermal energy from one body of matter to another body of matter (ex. liquid to gas)
60
Calories (cal)
Amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1g of water by 1 degree Celsius
61
Kilocalories
1 kcal = 1,000 cal The calories on food labels are actually kcal!
62
Joules (j)
1 J = 0.239 cal 1 cal = 4.184 J Another unit used to measure energy
63
Specific heat
Amount of heat that must be absorbed or lost for 1g of a substance to change its temperature by 1 degree Celsius
64
Water resists changing its temperature because...
Of its high specific heat (1 cal/g/degree Celsius)
65
Heat is absorbed/released...
Absorbed when hydrogen bonds break, released when hydrogen bonds form
66
Heat of vaporization
The heat a liquid must absorb for 1 g to be converted to gas
67
Evaporate cooling
While a liquid evaporates, its surface cools
68
Water reaches it's greatest density at __
4 degrees Celsius
69
Homogeneous mixture
A mixture that has the same proportions of its components throughout a given sample (ex. salt water; the salt in the water is evenly distributed)
70
Solution
A liquid that's a homogeneous mixture of subtsances
71
Solute
A substance that's dissolved by a solvent
71
Solvent
Usually a liquid that dissolves other substances
72
Aqueous solution
A solution where water is the solvent (water doing the dissolving)
73
Why is water a versatile solvent?
Because of its polarity
74
Hydration shell
When an ionic compound dissolves in water and each ion is surrounded by a sphere of water molecules
75
What's an ionic compound?
Compounds made up of oppositely charged ions
76
Compound
A substance made up of two or more different chemical elements combined in a fixed ratio
77
Molecules are...
Made up of groups of atoms
78
Molecular mass
Sum of all masses of all atoms in a molecule
79
Number of molecules measured by...
1 mol = 6.02 times 10²³
80
Molarity (M)
Number of moles of solute per liter of solution
81
Hydrogen ion (H⁺)
Hydrogen atom leaves its electron behind and is transferred as a proton (or H⁺)
82
Hydroxide ion (OH⁻)
The molecule that lost a proton
83
Hydronium ion (H3O⁺)
The molecule that has an extra proton, also represented as H⁺
84
pH scale
Describes whether a solution is acidic or basic
85
Adding some solutes such as acids and bases, can __ the concentrations of H+ and OH-
Modify
86
Concentrations of H+ and OH- are ___ in pure water
Equal
87
Acid
A substance that increases the H+ of a solution; pH value is lower than 7
88
Base
A substance that reduces the H- of a solution; pH value is greater than 7
89
Buffers
Substances that maintain a constant pH by neutralizing the effects of hydrogen ions
90
Ocean acidification
A reduction in the pH (becoming or getting acidic) of the ocean over an extended period of time, caused due to the ocean taking in CO2 from the atmosphere
91
Organic chemistry
Study of compounds that contain carbon
92
Isomers
Compounds with the same formula but vary in structures and properties
93
Structural isomers
Different covalent arrangements of their atoms
94
Cis-trans isomers
Same covalent bonds but differ in spatial arrangements
95
Enantiomers
Isomers that are mirror images of each other
96
Estradiol (estrogen) and testosterone...
Steroids with a common carbon skeleton, in the form of four fused rings. the only difference they have are the chemical groups attached to the rings of the carbon skeleton
97
ATP
ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) is an important organic phosphate that has adenosine attached to a string of three phosphate groups
98
Macromolecules
Large molecules that are complex. All living things are made up of four classes of large biological molecules which consist of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids
99
What are the three macromolecules that are polymers?
Carbohydrates, proteins and nucleic acids. Lipids don't have polymers nor monomers because they vary (it isn't consistent.) Lipids always have one glycerol but the number of fatty acids always vary
100
Enzyme
Specialized macromolecules that speed up a chemical reaction, for example those that make or break down polymers
101
Carbohydrates
Sugars and polymers of sugars
102
Starch
A storage polysaccharide of plants, consist entirely of glucose monomers. Simplest form of starch is amylose
103
Glycogen
Storage polysaccharide in animals, hydrolysis of glycogen releases glucose
104
Chitin
A structural polysaccharide found in the exoskeleton of anthropods
105
Lipids
One class of biological molecules that don't include true polymers One thing all lipids have in common is that they mix poorly with water Lipids are hydrophobic because they consist of mostly hydrocarbons which form nonpolar covalent bonds
106
The most important lipids are...
Fats, phospholipids and steroids
107
Fats
Made up of smaller molecules which are glycerol and fatty acids
108
Glycerol
Three-carbon alcohol with a hydroxyl group attached to each carbon
109
Fatty acid
Consists of a carboxyl group attached to a long carbon skeleton
110
Triacylglycerol
Three fatty acids in a fat being joined to a glycerol by an ester linkage
111
Ester linkage
Chemical bond that forms between a carbonyl group and an oxygen group that forms a polar group
112
Saturated fatty acids
No double bonds, solid at room temperature
113
Unsaturated fatty acids
One or more double bonds, liquid at room temperature
114
Trans fat
Unsaturated fatty acids that are produced either naturally or artificially. These fats are known as the bad ones to consume since they raise the "bad" cholesterol levels (LDL) and lower down the "good" (HDL) ones which increases risk of heart disease
115
Certain unsaturated fatty acids are not __ in the human body
Synthesized. These fatty acids need to be in diets such as omega-3 fatty acids which help with growth
116
Major function of fats is to...
Store energy
117
Phospholipids
Two fatty acids and a phosphate group attached to glycerol. The two fatty acid tails are hydrophobic meanwhile the phosphate group and its attachments are hydrophilic
118
Steroids
Lipids that are made up of a carbon skeleton that consist of four fused rings
119
Cholesterol
A type of steroid that is a component animal cell membranes. High levels of it in the blood can lead to cardiovascular disease
120
Protein
A biologically functional molecule that consists of one or more polypeptides
121
Amino acids
Organic molecules with carboxyl and amino groups. They differ in their properties due to differing side chains, called R groups
122
Primary sequence of a protein
Sequence of amino acids
123
Secondary structure of a protein
Result from hydrogen bonds. Two types are alpha-helix (coil) and beta-pleated sheet (folded) Involves interactions with the backbone
124
Tertiary structure of a protein
Results from interactions with the R-group and also hydrogen bonds, ionic bonds, and hydrophobic interactions
125
Disulfide bridges
Covalent bonds formed between two cysteine residues in a protein (cysteine is an amino acid)
126
Quaternary structure of a protein
When two or more polypeptide chains form one macromolecule
127
Sickle-cell disease
An inherited blood disorder resulting from a single amino acid substitution in the protein hemoglobin
128
Chaperonins
Protein molecules that assist the folding of other proteins
129
Genes
Made up of DNA and carry the information that make up your traits
130
DNA
A nucleic acid made of monomers called nucleotides
131
Two types of nucleic acids
DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) RNA (Ribonucleic acid)
132
Gene expression
The process by which the information encoded in a gene is turned into a function
133
Nucleic acids are polymers called...
Polynucleotides
134
Each polynucleotide is made of monomers called...
Nucleotides
135
Nucleoside equals
= nitrogenous base + sugar
136
Nucleotide equals
= nucleoside + phosphate group
137
Deoxyribose
Sugar in DNA
138
Ribose
Sugar in RNA
139
The two families of nitrogenous bases are..
Prymidines (cytosine, thymine and uracil), have a single six-membered ring Purines (adenine and guanine), have a six-membered ring fused to a five-membered ring
140
Double helix
(DNA molecules) two polynucleotides spiraling around an imaginary axis
141
Anti-parallel
Backbones in DNA run in opposite 5'-->3' directions from each other
142
Is RNA single or double-stranded?
Single. The molecules are more variable in form compared to DNA (which is always a double-helix.) Thymine is also replaced with Uracil in RNA
143
Genomics
When large sets of genes are analyzed or when whole genomes of different species are compared
144
Proteomics
An analysis of large set of proteins including their sequences
145
Genomes
The entire set of DNA instructions found within a cell. For humans, it would be the 23 pairs of chromosomes