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Biological Molecules

Biological Molecules

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Lim Zen Tung
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17 views11 pages

Biological Molecules

Biological Molecules

Uploaded by

Lim Zen Tung
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Biological Molecules Notes

Biology Today 21:07

Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates contain the elements carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen

A monosaccharide is a simple sugar:


e.g. glucose (C6H12O6) or fructose
Glucose molecules contain lots of energy
which can be released in respiration by
breaking the bonds between the carbon
atoms

A disaccharide is made when two


monosaccharides join together:
Maltose is formed from two glucose
molecules
Sucrose is formed from one glucose and
one fructose molecule
Lactose is formed from one glucose and
one galactose molecule
A polysaccharide is formed when lots of
monosaccharides join together

Starch, glycogen or cellulose are all formed


when lots of glucose molecules join together
Polysaccharides are insoluble and therefore
useful as storage molecules
Starch - Long chain of glucose molecules
linked together and coiled into a spiral
shape
A storage molecule
Kept in plants after photosynthesis
(plants always make more than what
they need during photosybthesis)
Plants store starch rather than
glucose because glucose is soluble
in water and it is not stable for long
storage
Glycogen - glucose structures are branching
out
A storage molecule that is stored in
animals' muscles & liver cells
Used when blood don't provideenough
energy for muscles
Usually due to not eating for a long
period of time
Also used to maintain blood glucose
levels
Cellulose - glucose structures are altered
and oacked closely together (found in plant
cell walls - to keep the plant cell rigid)
For structures of cell and as fibres
Provide bulk for digested food as it
has volume and can make the
digested food move along the
digestive track
Used in papers, wood
In herbivores though, cellulose are
digested, therefore they contain
microorganisms (evolsved to live with
herbivores) to produce cellulose to help
with their digestion

Broken and building of carbohydrates:


Broken down using hydrolysis - used to
adicify the water
Built using condensation - has a glycocedic
bond

Fats
Most fats (lipids) in the body are made up of
triglycerides

Made up of: C, H, O
Monomers: glycerol
Their basic unit is one glycerol molecule
chemically bonded to three fatty acid
chains.
The fatty acids vary in size and structure
Lipids are divided into fats (solids at room
temperature) and oils (liquids at room
temperature)
Uses:
Insoluble in water, but soluble in
non-polar
Asetone - used as nail polish
remover
Phospholipid layer in the cell
membrane
High values for fat-soluble vitamins
Vitamin B & C are water soluble,
others are fat-soluble

Breaking and building:


Broken through hydrolysis
Built through condensation - ester bond

Proteins
Proteins are formed from long chains of amino
acids
There are 20 different amino acids
When amino acids are joined together a
protein is formed
Amino acids can be arranged in any order,
resulting in hundreds of thousands of
different proteins
Examples of proteins include enzymes,
haemoglobin, ligaments and keratin
Can be storage molecules for plants too
- Seeds
Hormones in the human body - insulun
to control blood glucose level /
thyroxine to control cell metabolism
Structural - Cytoskeleton
Transport - Active transport /
Haemoglobin / Diffusion
Amino acids join together to form proteins

Made of: C, H, O, N, (S, P)


Monomers: Amino acid

Protein shape
Every enzyme has a different shaped active
site-specific to one substrate
Different proteins have different amino acid
sequences resulting in them being different
shapes
Even a small difference in the amino acid
sequence will result in a completely different
protein being formed
The different sequences of amino acids
cause the polypeptide chains to fold in
different ways and this gives rise to the
different shapes of proteins
In this way, every protein has a unique 3-D
shape that enables it to carry out its function
The shape of a protein determines its
function
For example:
Enzymes have a specifically shaped
active site - this is where a specific
substrate molecule fits in order for a
reaction to take place
If the shape of the active site does not
match the shape of the molecule that
fits into it, the reaction will not take
place
Antibodies are proteins produced by
certain types of white blood cells that
attach to antigens on the surface of
pathogens
The shape of the antibody must match
the shape of the antigen so that it can
attach to it and signal it for destruction

Breaking and building of protein:


Condensation reaction to build - Peptide
bond
Breaking down with hydrolysis

Nucleic Acid
DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) - Adenine,
Cytosine, Guanine, Thymine
A&T
G&C
RNA (Ribonucleic Acid) - Adenine, Cytosine,
Guanine, Uracil
A&U
G&C

Monomers: Nucleotides
Made up of: C, H, O, N, P

3 elements:
Phosphate group
Backbone of the DNA molecule
Pentose Sugar
The element that differenciates DNA
and RNA
Nitrogenous base
Differenciates all living organisms

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