Week 1 Flashcards
What are the products of cells?
- Bioplastics
- Polysaccharides
- Enzymes/Proteins
- Antibodies
- Vitamins
- Pigments
- High-value chemicals
What are the three domains of life and the proposed one?
Eukaryota, Bacteria, Archaea and the proposed one is Synthetica
What are cells?
The basic units of living organisms
How can cells be studied?
Viewed through what?
Cells are small so they need to be viewed through a microscope
What types of microscopes are there?
- Light: rays are focused in a lens
- Electron: Beams of electrons have a smaller wavelength so produce a higher resolution
What is the magnification equation?
Magnification = size of image/actual size
Mag = hi/ho
Describe prokaryotic cells
- No membrane bound organisms
- Tough cells wall
- Flagella use for locomotion and folding
- Can be gram-positive or gram-negative
What is the difference between gram-positive and gram-negative?
Classifications based on the Gram stain test based on the thickness of their cell wall
Describe eukaryotic cells
- Cells contain membrane bound organelles
- Spatial organisation means different chemical reactions can take place without interfering with each other
What is an autotroph?
Organism that produces its own food
What are examples of autrotrophs?
Plants, algae, some bacteria, phytoplankton
What are heterotrophs?
Organism that doesn’t make its own food
What are examples of heterotrophs?
Animals, fungi, protozoa, most bacteria
What are the three functions of cells and what happens in each?
- Metabolism: Getting energy
- Biosynthesis: Making macromolecules and stuff
- Transcription/Translation - Control centre
What is the major elemental composition of bacteria?
- Carbon
- Oxygen
- Hydrogen
- Nitrogen
What are 3 minor elements in the composition of bacteria?
Three of:
- Phosphorus
- Sulphur
- Magnesium
- Calcium
- Manganate
- Iron
- Copper
- Boron
What is an important takeaway about the elemental composition of bacteria?
It has a similarity to humans, so the nutrients supplied in the media should be similar to those nutrients humans need.
What are the 4 biological molecules?
- Carbohydrates
- Lipids
- Proteins
- Nucleic acids
What does a cell do in metabolism?
Synthesis the macromolecules from the available nutrients by carrying out metabolism
So in the media the essential nutrients must be present
What do carbohydrates contain?
- Carbon
- Hydrogen
- Oxygen
What are the examples of carbohydrates?
- Mono: glucose, galactose, fructose
- Di: Maltose, lactose
- Poly: Starch, cellulose
Describe carbohydrates
- Monosaccharides are the simplest
- 2 monosaccharides join together to form a disaccharide by a condensation reaction
- Polysaccharides are hundreds or thousands of monosaccharides linked together
- Also glucose is C6H12O6
What is the function of carbohydrates?
Energy storage and structure
Why are carbohydrates suited for energy storage?
Insolubility
Why should carbs be mass-produced?
Sugar products and also co-products made in the same processes are useful
What do lipids contain?
- Carbon
- Hydrogen
- Not much oxygen
What are examples of lipids?
- Triglycerides (ester derived from glycerol and 3 fatty acids)
- Phospholipids
Describe lipids (triglycerides and phospholipids)
Properties of triglycerides depends on the fatty acid side chains
Phospholipids aggregate to form the cell membrane with a hydrophobic tail and a hydrophilic head
Why should lipids be mass-produced?
- Triglycerides useful in the biodiesel reaction: Triglycerides + methanol -> glycerol + biodiesel
- Higher value lipids e.g fish oil for omega 3
What are proteins made of?
- Carbon
- Hydrogen
- Nitrogen
- Oxygen
- Nearly all contain sulphur
What are the 5 categories of proteins with examples?
- Structural: glycoproteins collagen and keratin
- Catalytic: enzymes
- Transport: haemoglobin
- Regulatory: hormones
- Protective: antibodies
Describe proteins
- 30% - 70% of total cell weight
- Amino acids are the building blocks for proteins
- Amino acids link forming peptide bonds via a condensation reaction
- A change in the amino acid can change the function as they have different chemistries
Give examples of uses of proteins for each category (%)?
- Structural: Collagen injections, cosmetics
- Catalytic: biomanufacturing, bio laundry
- Transport:
- Regulatory: HRT
- Protective: medical
What do nucleic acids contain?
- Carbon
- Nitrogen
- Phosphorus
- Oxygen
What is the function of nucleic acids?
Encode, transmit and express genetic information
What are examples of nucleic acids?
DNA and RNA
What are uses of nucleic acids being mass-produced?
Synthetic biology and vaccines
