biol+3+summary+notes-biomolecules

Post your short summary of a particlar aspect of biomolecules based on the secret question you received. Make sure you carefully read all the summaries and feel free to ask questions of each other or make amendments.

Condensation Polymerization
 * Condensation Polymerization is the reaction that occurs when monomers join to form polymers; the most defining feature of this reaction being the by-production of water. Carbohydrates, Nucleic Acids and proteins all accomplish this type of reaction. Lipids do not have a monomer as such, so they are unable to bond to produce water. Amino acids join together in chains to form peptide bonds with each other - producing a protein, and several water molecules for every bond. Monosaccharides bond together to form the a polymer of a carbohydrate – the polysaccharide. Nucleotides also bond to create a polymer – the Nucleic acid. All this reactions produce several water molecules for every bond. This process is able to produce many chemicals that consumers use everyday such as alkyds, phenolaldehydes and urea-formaldehydes, polyesters, polyamides, polyacetals, and polyphenylene oxides. YT **

The journey from amino acids to proteins Amino acids are the basic unit of proteins. The elements within an amino acid are carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N) and a variable R group. This R group is very important as it determines the __type__ of amino acid. In order for proteins to be produced, amino acids need to first join together. A proteins function and shape is determined by the amino acid sequence. When two amino acids join together they form a polypeptide bond between them, while at the same time a water molecule is produced. Many amino acids joined together are called polypeptide chains. The type of reaction involving __water__ is called condensation reaction.
 * Davina Vorchheimer **

Different types of lipids. A group of organic compounds known as lipids contain the same elements as carbohydrates: carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen atoms though, are in lower abundance in lipids compared to carbohydrates. Despite lipids not being classed as a polymer, due to its lack of a repeating basic building block (acting as a monomer), there are still different types of the organic compound (fats, phospholipids, steroids). Fats consist of two main components: an alcohol known as glycerol and a fatty acid. Glycerol consists of a 3 carbon skeleton linked to 5 hydrogen atoms and 3 hydroxyl groups (oxygen and hydrogen atom) that are lined up on the same side. These hydroxyl groups enable the glycerol molecule to bond to the fatty acids. The fatty acids consist of a hydrocarbon chain that also contains a hydroxyl group (these hydrocarbon chains can be relatively long). The OH groups of the fatty acid and the glycerol join releasing a water molecule when bonded. This is known as a dehydration reaction, not condensation polymerization as lipids are not polymers. The three OH groups in the glycerol molecule are thus able to form bonds with 3 separate fatty acids. Consequently, this fat is referred to as a triglyceride/triacylglycerol. The bond that forms between the fatty acid and the glycerol is referred to as an ester linkage/bond. Two different types of fats are saturated fats and unsaturated fats. What determines whether a fat is considered saturated relates to the chemical bonding that occurs in the fatty acid. If the fatty acid chain has no double bonds, the carbon atoms are bonding to as many hydrogen atoms possible and the fat is thus considered saturated. These fatty acid chains are liner and able to pack close together to form a solid (eg. Butter). An unsaturated fat in one in which the fatty acid chain has one or more double bonds between carbon atoms (thus not bonding to maximum hydrogen atoms and not being saturated). These fatty acids have clinks in the chain where the double bond exist, this preventing them to pack close together and be a solid at room temperature (eg. Oil). Due to the lipids non-polar nature, it does not dissolve in water. Functions: Energy storage, Insulation Ryan "Nugget" Dean
 * 1.  ****  Fats  **

A phospholipid is a lipid that’s main structural purpose is to construct the plasma membrane. A phosphate group replaces one of the fatty acid chains and produces a phosopholipid. Due to the adding of the phosphate group, this allows the lipid to be semi polar, meaning that when used to make a phospholipid bilayer, the head of the lipid will becomes polar (hydrophilic) and will attract water, allowing water to pass through the plasma membrane. E.B
 * Phospholipid structure**

Large, Biological (Living) Molecules. All cells contain and are made up of biological molecules (organic substances), which are very complex, and are each made up of various building blocks. Monomers are like building blocks or basic units of most of these organic substances, (except for lipids). Monomers can combine (bond) to produce a polymer (ie. the organic molecule itself). They will each vary in purpose and function, according to the elements and number of the elements they each possess, their shape and structure, and the way in which the bonding between their particular units occurs. Monosaccharides, Amino Acids, and Nucleotides are monomers of three of the four main types of large biomolecules. Glycerol + fatty acids are the basic unit (not monomer) of the last type of organic substance. All cells contain these four main groups of large, biological (living) molecules, and could not function or be so complex without them all! - LA.

One of Many Polysaccharides. There are many different types of polysaccharides, each with varying structures and functions. One such polysaccharide is glycogen. Glycogen is responsible for energy storage within animals. It is primarily found in the liver and muscles of animals. It is often referred to as animal starch as it is similar to the starch found in plant cells. Glycogen is not found in plant cells. - AK.

Basic Elements Each of the Organic Substances that make up cells, are all based on the basic elements of Oxygen (O), Carbon (C) and Hydrogen (H). However the few elements that separate them are Phosphorus (P), Nitrogen (N) and Sulfur (S). Both Carbohydrates and Lipids are the simplest of the Organic substances only containing O, C, and H. The way of differentiating between the Carbohydrates and Lipids is by looking at the H: O ratio. If the ratio is 2:1 then the molecule is a Carbohydrate, if not then it is a Lipid. Proteins are slightly more complicated with the elements they contain. They contain the basic elements of O, C, and H but also contain the element N and sometimes S. Nucleic Acids are also made up of the basic elements but also contain P, and N. - MW

Biological polymers Each of the four biomacromolecules are made up of smaller subunits. For exampe, fats are a type of lipid, and its smaller subunits are fatty acids and glycerol, carbohydrates are polysaccharide composed of monosaccharides, proteins are comprised of amino acids and nucleic acids are made up of nucleotides. For carbohydrates, proteins and nucleic acids, their subunits are termed monomers, and many monomers make a chain called a polymer. In carbohydrates, an example of a number of monomers composing a polymer is seen when glucose, the monosaccharide, joins up to create cellulose, the polysaccharide - SB

R groups R groups are a part of the structure of an amino acid. Each amino acid has a central carbon linked to an amino group (NH2), carboxyl group (COOH) and finally a variable R group. The R group is what makes each protein differ and is the cause of the different functioning. In the amino acid //serine// the R group is written as CH2OH. As per usual this R group is connected to the central carbon which is connected to the carboxyl group and amino group. A reason why the R group is extra special is because it is the elements within the R group that cause the protein to have its three dimensional structure. When all the amino acids are lined up, some of the elements within the R group (for instance sulfur) may be attracted to others elements in different R groups along the chain, this causes the shape to mold in a particular way giving it a three dimensional figure. - JA

Amino acids and Protein structure There are 20 types of amino acids commonly found in proteins. All amino acids contain an amino group (NH2) and a carboxylic acid group (COOH). The basic structure of all amino acids is the same; the only thing that differs is the R-group. The R-group is different in each of the 20 amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Proteins have 3D shapes that are crucial to their role. Proteins are most diverse in structure, role and functions of all biomolecules. Bonds between amino acids are called peptide bonds. A Protein is one or more polypeptides coiled or folded together into a specific shape. R groups in different amino acids are very important in determining protein structure. Some amino acids contain R-groups, which are polar and can therefore form hydrogen bonds with other molecules.- GR

The Elements found in Nucleic Acids: Nucleic Acids are made up of the elements __Carbon__, __Hydrogen,__ __Oxygen,__ __Nitrogen__ and __Phosphorus__. The elements that distinguish nucleic acids from other organic molecules are __nitrogen__ and __phosphorus__. Both monosaccharides and lipids only contain the elements carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Whilst proteins **__also__** contain the element nitrogen (as well as nucleic acids) they too contain the element __Sulfur__, which is not found in nucleic acids or either of the other organic molecules. - OS

Lipid molecules

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Phospholipids (a type of lipid) help to make up the plasma membrane in cells. They are composed of a glycerol backbone, 2 fatty acid chains and a phosphate group, giving the liquid a non-polar (hydrophobic tail) and polar (hydrophilic head) inclination. The phosphate group is the special component that makes phospholipids different from other triglycerides, which are composed of a glycerol backbone and 3 fatty acid chains.======

- RN
LIPID MOLECULES Lipids are hydrophobic, organic molecules (don’t like water) including oils, fats, fatty acids, triglycerides, phospholipids and sterols. Triglyceride is made of three fatty acids joined with a glycerol molecule, oils are triglycerides with low melting points and fats are triglycerides with high melting points and are usually solid at room temperature and phospholipids are triglycerides with a phosphate group replacing one of the three fatty acids. - M.G.

Nucleic Acids The basic units or monomers of nucleic acids are called nucleotides. In Nucleic acids the following elements are found; Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen and Phosphorus. Nitrogen and Phosphorus are the two elements which seperate the nucleic acids to the rest of the organic substances. L.R