Biochem Key Terms

Question 1

Aerobic

Answer 1

living, active, or occurring only in the presence of oxygen

Question 2

Anaerobic

Answer 2

relating to, involving, or requiring an absence of free oxygen

Question 3

Prokaryotes

Answer 3

a microscopic single-celled organism that has neither a distinct nucleus with a membrane nor other specialized organelles

Question 4

Eukaryotes

Answer 4

organisms whose cells contain a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles

Question 5

Metabolites

Answer 5

a substance that is produced or used when the body breaks down food, drugs, chemicals, or its own tissue

Question 6

Homeostasis

Answer 6

the tendency toward a relatively stable equilibrium between interdependent elements, especially as maintained by physiological processes

Question 7

Macromolecules

Answer 7

a molecule containing a very large number of atoms, such as a protein, nucleic acid, or synthetic polymer

Question 8

Hydrophobic

Answer 8

a property of molecules that do not mix with water

Question 9

Hydrophilic

Answer 9

something is attracted to water or can easily dissolve, mix with, absorb, or be saturated by water

Question 10

Stereoisomers

Answer 10

each of two or more compounds differing only in the spatial arrangement of their atoms

Question 11

Chiral

Answer 11

large organic molecules that have one or more chiral centers where four different groups are attached to a carbon atom

Question 12

Achiral

Answer 12

large organic molecules that do not have one or more chiral centers where four different groups are attached to a carbon atom

Question 13

Geometric Isomers

Answer 13

each of two or more compounds which differ from each other in the arrangement of groups with respect to a double bond, ring, or other rigid structure

Question 14

Diastereomers

Answer 14

non-mirror image, non-identical stereoisomers

Question 15

Endergonic

Answer 15

a reaction that requires energy to be driven

Question 16

Exergonic

Answer 16

a metabolic or chemical process accompanied by the release of energy

Question 17

Amphipathic

Answer 17

a molecule, especially a protein, having both hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts

Question 18

Aromatic

Answer 18

containing a planar unsaturated ring of atoms that is stabilized by an interaction of the bonds forming the ring

Question 19

Aliphatic

Answer 19

relating to or denoting organic compounds in which carbon atoms form open chains (as in the alkanes), not aromatic rings

Question 20

Isotonic

Answer 20

relating to a solution having the same osmotic pressure as some other solution, especially one in a cell or a body fluid

Question 21

Hypotonic

Answer 21

having lower osmotic pressure than a particular fluid, typically a body fluid or intracellular fluid

Question 22

Hypertonic

Answer 22

having higher osmotic pressure than a particular fluid, typically a body fluid or intracellular fluid

Question 23

in vitro

Answer 23

performed or taking place in a test tube, culture dish, or elsewhere outside a living organism

Question 24

in vivo

Answer 24

performed or taking place in a living organism

Question 25

Nucleotide

Answer 25

a compound consisting of a nucleoside linked to a phosphate group

Question 26

Nucleoside

Answer 26

a compound (e.g., adenosine or cytidine) commonly found in DNA or RNA, consisting of a purine or pyrimidine base linked to a sugar

Question 27

Anomeric

Answer 27

relating to a carbon atom that has an aldehyde or ketone functional group in the open-chain form of a sugar

Question 28

Hydrolysis

Answer 28

the chemical breakdown of a compound due to reaction with water

Question 29

condensation

Answer 29

a reaction in which two molecules combine to form a larger molecule, producing a small molecule such as H2O as a byproduct

Question 30

Epigenetic

Answer 30

relating to changes, especially heritable changes, in the characteristics of a cell or organism that result from altered gene expression or other effects not involving changes to the DNA sequence itself

Question 31

hypochromic effect

Answer 31

The observed decrease in absorption of certain frequencies of electromagnetic radiation by solutions of some macromolecules when the structure of the molecules becomes more ordered

Question 32

hyperchromic effect

Answer 32

the increase of absorbance (optical density) of a material

Question 33

dimerization

Answer 33

the process of joining two identical or similar molecular entities by bonds

Question 34

zwitterion

Answer 34

a molecule or ion having separate positively and negatively charged groups

Question 35

isoelectric point

Answer 35

the pH at which a molecule carries no net electrical charge or is electrically neutral in the statistical mean