Ch' 5 The Structure and Function of Macromolecules

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Ch. 5 - The Structure and Function of
Macromolecules

• Polymer principles
• Carbohydrates - fuel and building materials
• Proteins - the molecular tools of the cell
• Nucleic acids - informational polymers
• Lipids - diverse hydrophobic molecules

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Polymer Principles

• Most macromolecules are polymers.
• An immense variety of polymers can be built up
  from a small set of monomers.

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Polymers

• Large molecule
• containing many (similar or identical) building
  blocks (monomers)
• held together by covalent bonds.

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Mononer

• Small molecule - building block
• Makes up a polymer
• Consists of a carbon skeleton functional groups

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Dehydration condensation

• Process by which polymers are formed.
• Involves
• Dehydration (removal of water)
• Condensation (put together with a covalent bond)
• Requires energy

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Hydrolysis

• Breakdown of polymers
• Add water
• Break covalent bonds
• Releases energy

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An immense variety of polymers can be built from
a small set of monomers

• 50 monomers

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Carbohydrates - Fuel and Building Material

• Simple sugars - monomers - monosaccharides -
  glucose
• Disaccharides - two monosaccharides joined by a
  covalent bond - sucrose
• Polysaccharides - many monosaccharides linked by
  covalent bonds - glycogen, starch, cellulose

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Glucose
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Glucose
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Sugars form rings in solution
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Disaccharides
Glycosidic linkages
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Glucose polymers

• Energy storage
• Glycogen (animals)
• Starch (plants)
• Structure
• Cellulose (plants)

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Starch and Glycogen
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Energy Storage Molecules

• Glucose - short term
• Starch and glycogen - medium term

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Glycogen

• Stored in muscle and liver
• Can be rapidly hydrolyzed when needed
• Fight or flight

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Cellulose
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Glucose forms two ring structures in solution.
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Starch and cellulose have a different shape.
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Conclusions

• The same basic molecules are used over and over
  again in biology.
• Slight changes in these molecules may alter
  function drastically.
• The shape of molecules is very important in
  biology.