Biological Molecules – Water

What are you made of?

 The bodies of all living things are made of many different kinds of chemicals.
 Most of our bodies are made up of water.
 They also contain carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
 These substances are what our cells are made of. Each of them is vital for life.

Water
 In most organisms, almost 80% of the body is made up of water.
 The cytoplasm of cells is a solution of many different substances in water.
 The spaces between our cells are also filled with a watery liquid.
 Inside every living organism, chemical reactions are going on all the time, these reactions are called metabolism.
 Metabolic reactions can only take place if the chemicals which are reacting are dissolved in water.
 Water is an important solvent.
 This is one reason why water is so important to living organisms.
 If their cells dry out, the reactions stop, and the organism dies.
 Water is also needed for other reasons eg plasma, the liquid part of blood, contains a lot of water, so that
substances like glucose can dissolve in it.
 These dissolved substances are transported around the body.
 Water is also need to dissolve enzymes and nutrients in the alimentary canal, so that digestion can take place.
 Water is also needed to help us get rid of waste products, the kidneys remove the waste product, urea from the
body which is dissolved in water to form urine.

Biological molecules
 Carbon is an element present in all biological molecules.
 Carbon atoms can join together to form chains or ring structures, so biological molecules can be very large
(macromolecules), often constructed of repeating sub-units (monomers).
 Other elements always present are oxygen and hydrogen.
 Nitrogen is sometimes present.
 When macromolecules are made of long chains of monomers held together by chemical bonds, they are known as
polymers (poly means ‘many’).
 Examples of polymers are:
i. polysaccharides (chains of single sugar units such as glucose)
ii. proteins (chains of amino acids)
iii. nucleic acids (chains of nucleotides).
 Molecules constructed of lots of small units often have different properties from their sub-units, making them
suitable for specific functions in living things.
 For example, glucose is very soluble and has no strength, but cellulose (a macromolecule made of glucose units) is
insoluble and very tough – ideal for the formation of cell walls around plant cells.
 Cells need chemical substances to make new cytoplasm and to produce energy.
 Therefore the organism must take in food to supply the cells with these substances. Of course, it is not quite as
simple as this; most cells have specialised functions and so have differing needs.
 However, all cells need water, oxygen, salts and food substances and all cells consist of water, proteins, lipids,
carbohydrates, salts and vitamins or their derivatives.

Carbohydrates
 These may be simple, soluble sugars or complex materials like starch and cellulose, but all carbohydrates
contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen only.
 A commonly occurring simple sugar is glucose, which has the chemical formula C6H12O6.
 The glucose molecule is often in the form of a ring, represented as:

Figure 1: Glucose molecule showing ring structure

 Two molecules of glucose can be combined to form a molecule of maltose C 12H22O11:

Fig 2: Formation of maltose

 Sugars with a single carbon ring are called monosaccharides, e.g. glucose and fructose.
 Those sugars with two carbon rings in their molecules are called disaccharides, e.g. maltose and sucrose.
 Mono- and disaccharides are readily soluble in water.
 When many glucose molecules are joined together, the carbohydrate is called a polysaccharide.
 Glycogen (Figure 3A) is a polysaccharide that forms a food storage substance in many animal cells.
 The starch molecule is made up of hundreds of glucose molecules joined together to form long chains.
  Starch is an important storage substance in the plastids of plant cells.
 Plastids are important organelles in plant cells.
 They are the sites where molecules like starch are made and stored. One familiar example of a plastid is the
chloroplast.
 Cellulose consists of even longer chains of glucose molecules. The chain molecules are grouped together to
form microscopic fibres, which are laid down in layers to form the cell wall in plant cells.
 Polysaccharides are not readily soluble in water.

A B

Fig 3A Part of a glycogen molecule, 3B Cellulose. Plant cell walls are composed of long, interwoven and
interconnected cellulose fibres, which are large enough to be seen with the electron microscope. Each
fibre is made up of many long -chain cellulose molecules.

Functions of carbohydrates
 Carbohydrates are needed for energy. One gram of carbohydrates releases 17KJ (Kilojoules) of energy.
 The energy is released by respiration.
 The carbohydrate that is normally used in respiration is glucose. This is also the form in which carbohydrate is
transported around an animal’s body.
 Human blood plasma contains dissolved glucose, being transported to all the cells.
 The cells then use the glucose to release the energy that they need to carry out the processes of life.
 Plants also use glucose in respiration, to provide them with energy. However, they do not transport glucose
around their bodies. Instead, they transport sucrose.
 The cells change the sucrose to glucose when they need to use it.
 Plants store carbohydrates as starch.
 It is quick and easy to change glucose into starch, or starch into glucose.
 Some plants store large quantities of starch in their seeds or tubers and we use these foods (eg sweet potatoes,
potatoes and cassava).
 Animals do not store starch, instead the store carbohydrates in the form of the polysaccharide glycogen.
  However, only small quantities of glycogen can be stored.
 It is mostly stored in the cells in the liver and the muscles.
 The polysaccharide cellulose is used to make the criss-crossing fibres from which plant cell walls are
constructed.
 Cellulose fibres are very strong, so the cell wall helps to maintain the shape of the plant cell.

Testing for carbohydrates

 Benedict’s solution is used to test for the presence of sugars followed by heating.
 If the food contains reducing sugar (such as glucose or maltose), then a brick-red colour will be produced.
 The mixture changes gradually from blue, through green, yellow and orange and finally brick-red.

Fig 4: Positive results of the Benedict’s test. The tube on the left contained a small amount of reducing
sugar and the one on the right a larger amount.

Experiment: Testing foods for sugars

1. Cut or grind a little of the food into very small pieces. Put these into a test tube. Add some water and shake it to
dissolve it.
2. Add benedict’s solution.
3. Heat the tube to about 80®C in a water bath. If there is reducing sugar in the food, a brick-red precipitate will
form.

Test for starch

 The test for starch is easier, as it does not involve heating.
 Iodine solution is added to a sample of the food.
 If there is starch present, a blue-black colour is observed. If there is no starch, the iodine solution remains
orange-brown.
 Fig 5: The blue-black colour shows that the potato contains starch.

Fats
 Fats are also known as lipids.
 Like carbohydrates, fats contain only three kinds of atoms which are: carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
 A fat molecule is made of four smaller molecules joined together:
i. One is Glycerol
ii. 3 are Fatty acids
 Attached to the glycerol molecule are 3 long molecules of fatty acids (Fig 1)

Fig 6: The structure of a fat molecule

Functions of fats
 Like carbohydrates, fats and oils can be used in a cell to release energy.
 A gram of fat gives about 39kL of energy, this is more than twice as much energy as that released by a gram of
carbohydrate.
 However, most cells use carbohydrates first when they need energy, and only use fats when all the available
carbohydrates have been used.
 The extra energy that fats contain makes the very useful for storing energy.
 In mammals, some cells, particularly one underneath the skin, become filled with large drops of fats or oils.
These stores can be used to release energy when needed.
 This layer of cells is called adipose tissue. Adipose tissue also helps to keep heat inside the body – that is, it
insulates the body.
 Many plants store oils in their seeds eg peanuts and coconut.
 The oil provides a good store of energy for germination.

Testing for fats

 There are several different tests for fats.
 One of the best is the ethanol emulsion test
 Firstly the food is chopped into smaller piece and shook with ethanol.
 Although fats will not dissolve in water, they dissolve in ethanol/
 Next, ethanol is poured into water. If there is any fat – ethanol mixture breaks up into millions of tiny droplets
when it is mixed with the water.
 This mixture is called an emulsion. It looks white and opaque, like milk (Fig 2).
 If there is no fat in the food, the mixture of water and ethanol remains transparent.
 Figure 7: A positive result for the emulsion test.

Proteins
 Protein molecules contain some kinds of atoms which carbohydrates and fats do not.
 As well as carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, they also contain nitrogen (N) and small amounts of sulphur (S).

Fig 8: Structure of a protein molecule

 Like polysaccharides, protein molecules are mafe of long chains of smaller molecules joined end to end.
 These smaller molecules are called amino acids.
  There are about 20 different kinds of amino acid. Any of these 20 can be joined together in any order to make a
protein molecule.
 Each protein is made of molecules with amino acids in a precise order.
 Even a small difference in the order of amino acids makes a different protein, so there are millions of different
proteins which could be made.
 When a protein is heated to temperatures over 50 °C, the cross-linkages in its molecules break down; the
protein molecules lose their shape and will not usually regain it even when cooled.
 The protein is said to have been denatured. Because the shape of the molecules has been altered, the protein
will have lost its original properties.
 Egg-white is a protein. When it is heated, its molecules change shape and the egg-white goes from a clear,
runny liquid to a white solid and cannot be changed back again. The egg-white protein, albumen, has been
denatured by heat.

Functions of proteins
 Some protein are soluble in water, an example is haemoglobin, the red pigment in blood.
 Other proteins are insoluble in water, for example, keratin. Hair and fingernails are made of keratin.
 Unlike carbohydrates, proteins are not normally used to provide energy.
 Many of the proteins in the food eaten are used for making new cells.
 New cells are needed for growing, and for repairing damaged parts of the body.
 In particular, cell membranes and cytoplasm contain a lot of protein.
 Proteins are also needed to make antibodies.
 These help to kill bacteria and viruses inside the body. Enzymes are also proteins.
 The long chains of amino acids from which the chain curl up into different shapes.
 The way in which the chain curls up into different shapes.
 The way in which the chains curls up, and therefore the 3-dimenional shape of the protein molecule, is
determined by the sequence of amino acids in the chain.
 Different sequences of amino acids result in different shapes of protein molecules.
 For most protein molecules, their shape directly affects their function.
 The shape of the enzyme molecule determines which reactions it can catalyse.
 Similarly, the shape of an antibody molecule determines the kinds of bacteria or viruses that it can attach to.
 Different shapes of antibody molecules are needed to bind to different kinds of bacteria or viruses.
 Each different kind of antibody therefore has a different sequence of amino acids from which it is built.
Fig 9: This is a model of an enzyme called lysozyme, which is found in saliva and tears. The purple band
represents the chain of amino acids, which is coiled up to produce a small depression called the active
site. The yellow part is another molecule, the substrate, that fits p erfectly into the active site.

Testing for proteins

 The test for protein is called the biuret test.
 The Biuret test involves mixing the food in water, and then adding dilute copper sulphate solution.
 Then dilute potassium hydroxide solution is gently added.
 A purple colour indicates that protein is present.
 If there is no protein, the mixture stays blue.
 The intense of the purple colour tells about the concentration of protein.
Fig 10: The tube on the left shows a nega tive result for the biuret test. The tube on the right shows a
positive result.

Table 1: Comparison of some properties between carbohydrates, fats and proteins

Carbohydrates Fats Proteins

Elements they contain C, H, O C, H, O C, H, O, N
Smaller molecules of Simple sugars Fatty acids and glycerol Amino acids
which they are made (monosaccharides)
Solubility in water Sugars are soluble, insoluble Some are soluble and
polysaccharides are some are insoluble
insoluble
Why organisms need Easily available energy Storage of energy Making cells, antibodies
them (17kJ/g) (39kJ/g); insulation, enzymes, haemoglobin,
making cell membranes also used for energy.
Fig 11: Different tests for testing different nutrients in food.

Nucleic Acids
 There are two types of nucleic acids:
i. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
ii. Ribonucleic acid (RNA)
 The building blocks of nucleic acids are called nucleotides.
 Nucleotides are composed of sugar, phosphate group and nitrogenous bases.
Fig 12: Structure of a nucleotide.

 The function of nucleic acids is to carry genes in the nucleus of cells of living organisms.
 Chromosomes are structures that contain DNA in the nucleus of cells.
 DNA is a molecule in the nucleus that provides information for manufacture of proteins.
 Alpha helix is the shape of DNA.
 Ribonucleic acids carries the DNA encoded instructions to the site of protein synthesis.
 The gene is a unit of inheritance.

Fig 13: Alpha helical structure of DNA