Biomacromolecules, Protein Structure Flashcards
(221 cards)
Name the 4 macromolecules
Carbohydrates
Nucleic acids
Proteins
Lipids (but these are not covalently bonded)
What are sugars
Straight chain polyhydroxy alcohols, including an aldehyde or ketone group
What is a glucose molecule
What is its usual form
6 C sugar with an aldehyde group on C1
Cyclic
What different forms of glucose are formed when it becomes cyclic
Why
α glucose
β glucose
New chiral centres are formed
How is β glucose arranged
Chair conformation
NOT planar but puckered
What is fructose, how is it different to glucose and what ring does it form
A 6 C sugar with a ketone group on position 2
5 sided ring
What is the bind formed why two monosaccharides are linked by a condensation reaction
Glycosidic bond
Which end of a sugar chain is the reducing end
Where the ring can be opened to produce a free reducing group (the aldehyde end)
Name 2 common disaccharides
Lactose
Sucrose
What is starch a polymer of
What is starch used for
α glucose
To store energy in plants
What is glycogen a polymer of
What is glycogen used for
α glucose
To store energy in animals
Are glycogen and starch branched?
Yes, but starch is more tightly packed so glycogen has more free ends from which glucose can be cut
What is cellulose
Unbranched chain of glucose connected by β linkages
V strong due to H bonds
Only termites can break it down in their digestive tract
What are proteins and lipids coated in
Complex carbohydrates (oligosaccharides)
What is RNA
A working template involved in gene expression and an information store in some viruses
It has a structural role in some cellular machinery eg ribosomes
Describe the sugar in DNA
Where is it deoxy
Deoxyribose is an aldopentose whose β-anomer is used in DNA
C2
What is the base used in DNA
Purines or pyrimidines with extra groups
What are the purine bases
A
G
What’s re the pyrimidine bases
C
T
U
Give the complementary base pairs
A-T
G-C
A-U
How is the stranding different in RNA to DNA
RNA is single stranded
How is the double helix arranged
How often is a complete turn
2 poly-nucleotide strands arranged with an external phosphate backbone and bases pointed to the centre like ladder rungs
Every 3.4nm
Why does DNA have major and minor grooves
Provide access to the bases for DNA binding proteins
Why does a hairpin loop form in RNA
Some regions are complementary to other regions in same strand