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Metric 1 > Biological Chemistry > Flashcards

Biological Chemistry Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the central dogma of biology?

A

A theory stating that genetic information flows only in one direction, from DNA, to RNA, to protein, or RNA directly to protein

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2
Q

What does DNA stand for?

A

Deoxyribonucleic Acid

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3
Q

What are nucleotides made up of?

A

phosphate group
sugar
base

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4
Q

How are nucleotides linked together?

A

By phosphodiester bonds

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5
Q

What is important about phosphate groups for structure and stability?

A

They are negatively charged

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6
Q

How do RNA nucleotides differ to DNA ones?

A
  • the ribose backbone is far less stable due to self-cleavage
  • RNA uses Uracil instead of Thymine to pair with Adenine
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7
Q

What can the R-group of amino acids be?

A
  • hydrophobic and non-polar
  • hydrophilic and polar
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8
Q

What are proteins?

A

They are polymers of amino acids joined by a planar peptide bond

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9
Q

What is the protein primary structure?

A

the linear sequence of amino acids in a peptide or protein

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10
Q

What is the protein secondary structure?

A

comprised of regions stabilised by hydrogen bonds between atoms in the polypeptide backbone

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11
Q

What are two protein secondary structures?

A

α-helices
β- strands

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12
Q

How are α-helices stabilised?

A

by H-bonds between NH of residue i and C=O of residues i-4

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13
Q

How are β- strands stabilised?

A

by H-bonds forming to parallel strands thus forming sheets

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14
Q

How are the side chains arranged in α-helices?

A

they point away from the helical peptide backbone

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15
Q

How are the side chains arranged in β- strands?

A

they stick above/ below the sheet

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16
Q

What is a protein tertiary structure?

A

it is the 3D shape of a protein

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17
Q

What is a protein quaternary structure?

A

the structure of proteins which are themselves composed of two or more smaller protein chains

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18
Q

What is glycogen?

A

a polymer of glucose and it is the primary energy storage in animal cells

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19
Q

What is cellulose?

A

a polymer of glucose and the main component of plant cell walls

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20
Q

Metabolism defined

A

the set of biochemical reactions to make or break compounds (such as glucose, produced by plants, broken down by humans)

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21
Q

What is glycolysis?

A

the catabolic process to break down glucose to produce Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

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22
Q

What is gluconeogenesis?

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A

the β process to produce glucose from smaller metabolites (usually a small-molecule intermediate molecule)

23
Q

What makes up a lipid?

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A

a strongly hydrophobic part (usually alkyl chains), and a highly polar or charged hydrophilic part

24
Q

What can lipids be classified as due to their charactersitics?

25
What are the most common lipids?
glycerophospholipids
26
Double-chain lipids
they are not soluble in water so form lipid bilayers - the basic boundary for all cells
27
What other lipids are key components of higher organisms' cell membranes?
sphingolipids
28
Prokaryotes defined
a single-cell organism whose cell lacks a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles
29
Eukaryotes defined
organisms whose cells have a defined nucleus separated by a phospholipid bilayer containing the DNA
30
Why are Archaea classified as the third domain of life?
they look like bacteria, but they're genetically closer to Eukaryotes
31
Gram positive bacteria
- they retain the violet Gram stain
32
Gram negative bacteria
- they don't retain the violet stain and go pink or red in colour
33
What is the make-up of gram positive bacteria?
- they have a thick outer peptidoglycan layer - inner phospholipid bilayer - contain a lipid-glycan
34
What is the make-up of gram negative bacteria?
- outer lipopolysaccharide (LPS) layer - outer cell membrane (phospholipid bilayer) - thin peptidoglycan in the periplasm - inner cell membrane enclosing the cytoplasm
35
What is the peptidoglycan?
It is made of two sugars: - N-acetylmuramic acid (NAM) - N-acetyl glucosamine (NAG) They are cross-linked by a tetrapeptide.
36
Endosymbiosis
the process where one type of cells is engulfed and then continues living within the predator
37
What is the strongest evidence for endosymbiosis?
mitochondria and chloroplasts contain their own DNA distinct from nuclear DNA and more closely related to bacterial DNA
38
What are the basic components of eukaryotic bilayers?
- glycerolphospholipids (GPL) with different head groups - sphingolipids - cholesterol
39
The nucleus of a eukaryotic cell
- it is defined by the nuclear membrane bilayer membrane - substances are controlled entering and leaving by the Nuclear Pore Complex - the nucleus contains the DNA wrapped up in proteins (histone) to form chromatin
40
The Mitochondria
It is the main producer of ATP and it has its own DNA
41
What is the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)?
the sheet/ tube-like extensions of the nuclear envelope
42
What is the role of endoplasmic reticulum?
- to provide different micro-environments to enable specific metabolic pathway that would not be possible in the cytosol - it also functions as a transport system to bring the right protein (enzyme) to its designation within the eukaryotic cell
43
Rough ER
located closer to nucleus and has many ribosomes (responsible for protein synthesis)
44
Smooth ER
closer to the cell membrane and responsible for lipid and steroid synthesis - for transport
45
What is the golgi apparatus?
it helps process and package proteins into lipid vesicles to be secreted from the cell - it contains the enzymes for glycosylation - transport and secretion
46
What are microbodies?
small vesicles with micro-environment to enable specific reactions
47
What is a vacuole?
membrane-enclosed water-filled compartments - storage of inorganic and organic compounds
48
Describe the geometry of the peptide bond
it is planar due to the double bond character (cis and trans configuration)
49
Shape of a bacillus
Rod shaped
50
What is Plasmodium?
unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects
51
Two key chemical differences between DNA and RNA?
- DNA contains deoxyribose which misses a OH group at the sugar phosphate backbone, RNA contains ribose. - RNA uses Uracil instead of Thymine
52
Reasons why RNA is less stable than DNA
- self-cleavage by forming a cyclic phosphodiester - thymine is more photostable than uracil due to its additional methyl group - cytosine easily de-aminates to produce Uracil, which in RNA leads to mutation - RNA cannot form regular B-form RNA due to additional OH group. B-DNA is generally more stable as bases are protected by negatively charged backbone
53

Metric 1 (5 decks)

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