Week 2 Flashcards
What are the four classes of macromolecules?
Lipids
Carbohydrates
Nucleic acids
Proteins
What are macromolecules?
Large and complex molecules that perform majority of processes in the cell. They are polymers made up of multiple monomers. (lipids are an exception).
What are some examples of lipids?
Fats and oils (triglycerides)
Phospholipids
Steroids
Are lipids soluble in water?
No.
What are lipids made out of?
Mostly hydrogen and carbon.
Explain the structure of fats.
They are made up of glycerol and 3 fatty acids (a triglyceride). The tail length and structure may differ - the triglyceride may be saturated or unsaturated.
What does it mean if a fat is saturated?
It contains no double bonds and thus has the maximum possible amount of hydrogen bonds. It is rigid and thus solid at room temp, like butter.
What does it mean if a fat is unsaturated?
Contains double bonds that cause cricks in the structure, resulting in the fat being a liquid at room temperature, like oils.
What are fats essential for?
Energy storage and membrane building.
Explain the structure of phospholipids.
Phasphate group head and 2 fatty acid tails. The head also contains choline and glycerol.
How does a phospholipid interact with water?
The fatty acid tail is hydrophobic while the phosphate head is phydrophilic.
What do phospholipids make up?
The cell membrans in the phospholipid bilayer, as the body is an aqueous environment. The bilayer self assembles.
What are steroids?
Lipids that do not interact with water and are a component of the cell membrane?
How are polymers synthesised and broken down?
Polymers are synthesised by a dehydration reaction (a subset of condensation reactions) - as a result, water is released.
Polymers can be broken down with a hydrolysis reaction, which requires enzymes.
What are monomers and plolymers of carbohydrates?
Monomer is a monosaccharide (eg glucose). Polymer is a polysaccharide. (eg chitin - found in the exoskeleton of arthropods, or glycogen)
What type of linkage joins monosaccharides together?
Glycosidic linkage - a covalent bond. There are different types of glycosidic linkages that affect structure and thus function depending on the sugar monomer and position of linkages.
What reaction joins monosaccharides together to make a disaccharide?
Dehydration reactions.
What is the monomer of nucleic acid?
Nucleotides.
Does nucleic acid refer to RNA or DNA?
It refers to both.
What type of nucleic acid do virus’ contain?
RNA.
What is the difference between a nucleotide and a nucleoside?
A nucleoside is referring only to the sugar and nitrogenous base. Nucleotide includes the phosphate.
What is the type of linkage between nucelotides?
Phosphodiester linkage.
What are carbohydrates associated with?
Saccharides.
Being a source of energy and structural.
