BIOMOLECULES OF LIFE (Carbohydrates)

1 EJC H2 Biology T1W7 Carbohydrates and Lipids Biomolecules of Life (Part 1) 1. Overview of Topic Compounds that contain carbon atoms are said to be organic and the branch of chemistry that specializes in the study of carbon compounds is called organic chemistry. Most organic compounds also contain hydrogen atoms and also elements oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorus. The Biomolecules of Life topic in Core Idea 1 explores how carbon atoms, by bonding with four other atoms, form a diverse range of organic mole cules which forms the ba sic constituents of cells. Two major types of organic compounds will be cover ed in this topic: carbohydrates and lipids. Proteins and enzymes will be covered later. Nucleic acids will be covered in the Core Idea 2: Genetics and Inheritance. These four major classes of biomolecules function as molecular building blocks for macromolecules to be assembled. Macromolecules are often called polymers because each polymer molecule is a long molecule consisting of many similar or identical building blocks linked by covalent bonds. Each repeating unit of a smaller molecule is called a monomer. 2. Learning Outcomes a. Describe the structure and properties of the following monomers: i. α-glucose and β-glucose (in carbohydrates) ii. glycerol and fatty acids (in lipids) iii. amino acids (in proteins) (knowledge of chemical formulae of specific R - groups of different amino acids is not required). b. Describe the formation and breakage of the following bonds: i. glycosidic bond ii. ester bond iii. peptide bond c. Describe the structures and properties of the following biomolecules and explain how these are related to their roles in living organisms: i. starch (including amylose and amylopectin) ii. cellulose iii. glycogen iv. triglyceride v. phospholipid d. Explain primary structure, secondar y structure, tertiary structure and quaternary structure of proteins, and describe the types of bonds that hold the molecule in shape (hydrogen, ionic, and disulfide bonds, and hydrophobic interactions). e. Explain the effects of temperature and pH on protein structure. f. Describe the molecular structure of the following proteins and explain how the structure of each protein relates to the function it plays: i. haemoglobin (transport) ii. collagen (structural)

2 EJC H2 Biology T1W7 Carbohydrates and Lipids iii. G-protein linked receptor (signalling) (knowledge of details of the number of amino acids and types of secondary structures present is not required.) The highlighted Learning Outcomes will be covered in Biomolecules of Life (Part 2) where proteins and enzymes will be presented together in the next serie s of lectures. 3. References Alberts, B., Johnson, A., Lewis, J., Morgan, D., Raff, M., Roberts, K. and Walter, P. (2014) Molecular Biology of the Cell (Fifth Edition) (Garland Science) ISBN 0815344643 Jones, M. and Jones, G. (2004) Advanc