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Biological Molecules Flashcards

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1
Q

What is a monomer?

A

The smaller units from which larger molecules are made.

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2
Q

What is a polymer?

A

Molecules made from a large number of monomers joined together.

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3
Q

What is a monosaccharide?

A

The monomers from which larger carbohydrates are made.

Examples: glucose, fructose, galactose.

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4
Q

What is a disaccharide?

A

Formed by the condensation of two monosaccharides, held together by a glycosidic bond.

Examples: maltose, sucrose, lactose.

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5
Q

What is a polysaccharide?

A

A carbohydrate formed by the condensation of many glucose units held by glycosidic bonds

Examples include starch, glycogen, and cellulose.

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6
Q

What type of glucose units form cellulose?

A

B-glucose

Cellulose is a polysaccharide found in plant cell walls.

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7
Q

What type of glucose units form glycogen?

A

a-glucose

Glycogen is a polysaccharide found in animals.

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8
Q

What are the two polymers contained in starch?

A
  • Amylose
  • Amylopectin

Starch is formed by the condensation of a-glucose.

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9
Q

True or False: Starch is formed by the condensation of B-glucose.

A

False

Starch is formed by the condensation of a-glucose.

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10
Q

In what type of organisms is cellulose primarily found?

A

Plants

Cellulose is a major component of plant cell walls.

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11
Q

Fill in the blank: Glycogen is a polysaccharide formed by the condensation of _______.

A

a-glucose

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12
Q

Fill in the blank: Cellulose is formed by the condensation of _______.

A

B-glucose

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13
Q

What is a glycosidic bond?

A

A covalent bond formed between two sugar molecules by a condensation reaction.

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14
Q

What type of link is a glycosidic bond?

A

C-O-C link.

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15
Q

What is amylose?

A

A polysaccharide in starch made of a-glucose joined by 1,4-glycosidic bonds that coils to form a helix.

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16
Q

What is amylopectin?

A

A polysaccharide in starch made of a-glucose joined by 1,4 and 1,6-glycosidic bonds that has a branched structure.

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17
Q

What is a condensation reaction?

A

A reaction that joins two molecules together with the formation of a chemical bond and involves the elimination of a molecule of water.

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18
Q

What is hydrolysis?

A

A reaction that breaks a chemical bond between two molecules, involving the use of a water molecule.

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19
Q

What are fibrils?

A

Long, straight chains of B-glucose held together by many hydrogen bonds.

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20
Q

What is a triglyceride?

A

Formed by the condensation of one molecule of glycerol and three molecules of fatty acids, forming 3 ester bonds.

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21
Q

What is a phospholipid?

A

Formed by the condensation of one molecule of glycerol and two molecules of fatty acids, held by two ester bonds, with a phosphate group attached to the glycerol.

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22
Q

What is a phosphate group?

A

A functional group consisting of a phosphorus atom bonded to four oxygen atoms, typically attached to glycerol in phospholipids.

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23
Q

What is the Induced-fit model?

A

The enzyme active site is not initially complementary to the substrate; the active site moulds around the substrate, putting tension on bonds and lowering the activation energy.

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24
Q

What is a competitive inhibitor?

A

A molecule that is the same/similar shape as the substrate; it binds to the active site and prevents enzyme-substrate complexes from forming.

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25
What is a non-competitive inhibitor?
A molecule that binds to an enzyme at the allosteric site, causing the active site to change shape and preventing enzyme-substrate complexes from forming.
26
What is primary structure in biology?
The sequence of amino acids on a polypeptide chain.
27
What is secondary structure in proteins?
The folding or coiling to create a pleated sheet or an alpha helix, held in place by hydrogen bonds.
28
What is tertiary structure in proteins?
The further folding to create a unique 3D shape, held in place by hydrogen, ionic, and sometimes disulfide bonds.
29
What is quaternary structure in proteins?
More than one polypeptide chain in a protein.
30
What is a peptide bond?
A covalent bond joining amino acids together in proteins, specifically a C-N link between two amino acid molecules, formed by a condensation reaction.
31
What is the effect of temperature on enzyme-controlled reactions?
At low temperatures, there is not enough kinetic energy for successful collisions between the enzyme and substrate. At too high a temperature, enzymes denature, the active site changes shape and enzyme-substrate complexes cannot form.
32
What is the effect of pH on enzyme-controlled reactions?
Too high or too low a pH will interfere with the charges in the amino acids in the active site. This breaks the ionic and hydrogen bonds holding the tertiary structure in place, therefore the active site changes shape and the enzyme denatures. Different enzymes have a different optimal pH.
33
What is the effect of substrate concentration on enzyme-controlled reactions?
At low substrate concentrations, there will be fewer collisions between the enzyme and substrate. At high substrate concentrations, the rate plateaus because all the enzyme active sites are saturated.
34
What is the effect of enzyme concentration on enzyme-controlled reactions?
At low enzyme concentrations, there will be fewer collisions between the enzyme and substrate. At high enzyme concentrations, the rate plateaus because there are more enzymes than the substrate, so many empty active sites.
35
What is an ester bond?
-COO- chemical bond formed between glycerol and fatty acids
36
What does hydrophilic mean?
The ability to mix, interact or attract water
37
What does hydrophobic mean?
The tendency to repel and not mix with water
38
What is glucose?
Monosaccharide that exists as two isomers: a glucose and β glucose
39
What is galactose?
An example of a monosaccharide that forms lactose.
40
What is fructose?
An example of a monosaccharide that forms sucrose.
41
What is an isomer?
Molecules with the same molecular formula but the atoms are arranged differently.
42
What is maltose?
A disaccharide formed by the condensation of two glucose molecules.
43
What is lactose?
A disaccharide formed by the condensation of a glucose molecule and a galactose molecule.
44
What is sucrose?
A disaccharide formed by the condensation of a glucose molecule and a fructose molecule.
45
What is a polypeptide?
A polymer chain of a protein made up of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds following condensation reactions.
46
What is an amino acid?
The monomer of a protein formed from C, H, O, N, containing a carboxyl group, amine group, and an R variable group.
47
What is a carboxyl group?
The COOH group, made up of a carbon (C) with a hydroxyl (OH) and a carbonyl (double-bonded O) group bonded to it. Found in amino acids and fatty acids.
48
What is an amine group?
The NH2 group found on amino acids.
49
What is the R group on amino acids?
The variable group that is the part of each of the 20 amino acids that is different.
50
What is an alpha helix?
A secondary structure in proteins that has a coiled shape held in place by hydrogen bonds.
51
What is a pleated sheet?
A secondary structure in proteins that has a folded, pleated shape, held in place by hydrogen bonds.
52
What are hydrogen bonds?
Weak bonds that form between hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) in many biological molecules. ## Footnote Examples include proteins, water, DNA, and tRNA.
53
What are ionic bonds?
A bond that forms between the R groups of different amino acids in the tertiary structure of proteins.
54
What are disulfide bonds?
A strong covalent bond between two sulfur atoms in the R groups of different amino acids in the tertiary structure of proteins.
55
What is the active site?
A unique-shaped part of an enzyme that the substrate binds to.
56
What is activation energy?
The minimum amount of energy required for a reaction to occur.
57
What is an enzyme-substrate complex?
Forms when an enzyme and substrate collide and bind, resulting in a lowered activation energy.
58
What happens to the substrate at the active site?
The substrate binds to the active site of the enzyme.
59
What is denaturation in biology?
A process where the enzyme's structure is altered, affecting its function.
60
What is an enzyme-inhibitor complex?
The structure that forms when an enzyme and inhibitor collide and bind. ## Footnote It prevents enzyme-substrate complexes from forming.
61
What is a saturated fatty acid?
A long hydrocarbon chain with a carboxyl group at one end and only single bonds between carbon atoms.
62
What is an unsaturated fatty acid?
A long hydrocarbon chain with a carboxyl group at one end and at least one double bond between carbon atoms.
63
What is a polar molecule?
A molecule that has an uneven distribution of charge.
64
What is a phospholipid?
Phospholipids have two charged regions.
65
How do phospholipids behave in water?
In water, they are positioned so that the heads are exposed to water and the tails are not.
66
What forms the phospholipid bilayer?
The phospholipid bilayer forms cell surface membranes and organelle membranes.
67
What are reducing sugars?
Sugars that can reduce cations in Benedict's reagent to cations in the form of copper (I) oxide.
68
What is the result of a reducing sugar test?
It forms a brick-red precipitate.
69
What are the steps to test for reducing sugars?
Add Benedict's reagent, heat, and observe the color change.
70
What color changes can indicate the presence of reducing sugars?
Observe green/yellow/orange/brick red precipitate.
71
What is the test for protein?
• Add biuret • turns purple
72
What is a nucleotide?
• The monomer of DNA and RNA • contains a pentose sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base
73
What is a nitrogenous base?
• Part of a nucleotide • adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine and uracil
74
What is a DNA nucleotide?
• Contains a deoyriose sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base
75
What is a poly nucleotide?
• DNA polymer • many nucleotides joined together via a condensation reaction • joined by phosphodiester bonds
76
What is a phosphodiester bond?
• Bond joining two nucleotides together • forms between a phosphate group and the pentose sugar
77
What is a complementary base pair
• The base pairs that align opposite each other and form hydrogen bonds • adenine and thymine/uracil • guanine and cytosine
78
What is a Ribose?
• pentose sugar • found in RNA nucleotide and ATP
79
What is uracil?
• Nitrogenous base • found in RNA instead of thymine
80
What is MRNA?
• a copy of a gene • single-strand polymer of RNA Messenger RNA
81
What is tRNA?
• found only in the cytoplasm • single-stranded but folded to create a shape that looks like a cloverleaf • held in place by hydrogen bonds
82
What is is rRNA
• rRNA combines with protein to make ribosomes

Biology (9 decks)

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