Lecture 2

Introductory Biology
BIO-101

Amir Faisal

Molecules of Life II; Carbohydrate, Lipids and Nucleic Acids

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Overview (Part I)

• Proteins
• Carbohydrates
• Nucleic Acids
• DNA Structure
• Lipids

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Proteins (Summary)

 Amino acids - 20
 Peptide bonds
 Polymer of amino acids (hence – “polypeptide”)
 1°, 2°, 3° and 4° structures
 2°: a-helix and b-sheet
 Different shapes
 Function is associated with structure
 Most enzymes are proteins

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Carbohydrates

 They are a source of stored energy that can be released in a form usable by organisms.

 They are used to transport stored energy within complex organisms.

 They serve as carbon skeletons that can be rearranged to form new molecules.

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Carbohydrates
 Monosaccharides (mono, “one”; saccharide, “sugar”), glucose, ribose, and fructose.

 Disaccharides (di, “two”) consist of two monosaccharides linked together by covalent

bonds. The most familiar is sucrose, which is made up of covalently bonded glucose and
fructose molecules.

 Oligosaccharides (oligo, “several”) are made up of several (3–20) monosaccharides.

 Polysaccharides (poly, “many”), such as starch, glycogen, and cellulose, are polymers
made up of hundreds or thousands of monosaccharides.

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Simple Sugars: Monosaccharides

 They are the monomers from which the larger

carbohydrates are constructed such as glucose,
ribose, and fructose, are simple sugars.

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Glycosidic linkages bond monosaccharides
 Disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides are all constructed from
monosaccharides that are covalently bonded together by condensation reactions that
form glycosidic linkages

 The disaccharides maltose and cellobiose are made from two glucose molecules

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Polysaccharides store energy and provide structural materials
 Polysaccharides are large (sometimes gigantic) polymers of monosaccharides connected
by glycosidic linkage
 Not necessarily linear chains of monomers. Each monomer unit has several sites that may
be capable of forming glycosidic linkages, and thus branched molecules are possible.

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Polysaccharides

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Chemically Modified Carbohydrates

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Carbohydrates Summary

 Carbohydrates are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in the general

ratio of 1:2:1.

 They provide energy and structure to cells and are precursors of numerous
important biological molecules.

 Monosaccharide monomers can be connected by glycosidic linkages to form

disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides.

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Carbohydrates (Summary)
SUGARS
 Monosaccharides (e.g., glucose, fructose, ribose etc)
 Disaccharides (e.g., cellobiose, maltose, lactose, etc)
 Polysaccharides (e.g., starch, glycogen, cellulose, etc)

MODIFIED SUGARS
Amino sugars (e.g., glucosamine and galactosamine)
Chitin (polymer of N-acetyl glucosamine)

ROLE
Sources of energy
Storage of energy!
Components of large molecules
Structural

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Nucleic Acids
 deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) & ribonucleic acid (RNA)
 Basic unit: Nucleotide
 Nucleotide has three components:
1. Sugar: Ribose (RNA) or Deoxyribose (DNA)
2. Base: Purines: Guanine (G) and Adenine (A)
Pyrimidines: Thymine (T), Cytosine (C) & Uracil (U)
3. Phosphate
 Polymers of nucleotides (polynucleotides)
 DNA is a double-helix
 Complimentarity (G:C and A:T or A:U pairing)
 Store/Carry genetic information
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Nucleotides; monomers that make nucleic acids

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Composition of DNA and RNA molecules

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Linking nucleotides together (Phosphodiester linkage)

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Complementary base pairing

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RNA and DNA
RNA
 Mostly single-stranded
 Uracil (instead of thymine)
 Contains ribose
 Sequence (5’-GAUCUUACG…3’)
 Structure

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DNA

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DNA caries information that is expressed through RNA

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Nucleic Acid Summary
 The nucleic acids DNA and RNA are polymers made up of nucleotide monomers

 DNA is double stranded, while RNA is single stranded

 Two strands of DNA are held together by hydrogen bonding between the bases

 Sequence of nucleotides in DNA carries the information used by RNA to specify

primary protein structure

 Nucleotides are more than just the building blocks of nucleic acids

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Lipids
 Hydrophobic (water “hating”)

 Energy reservoirs (Fats and Oils)

 Serve as thermal insulation (Fat in animal bodies)

 Repel water on surfaces of skin, fur and feathers (Oil or wax)

 Play important structural role in membranes (Phospholipids)

 Help capture light energy (Carotenoids)

 Act as electrical insulator in nerve cells

 Steroids and vitamins

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Simple Lipids
 Triglycerides (made up of glycerol + fatty acid)

 Ester linkage
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Fatty Acids can be saturated or unsaturated

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Phospholipids

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Carotenoids
 Pigments that trap light energy
 Found in plants and animals
 Vitamin-A  cis-retinal

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Other Lipids
Steroids (Such as Cholesterol)
 Small organic molecules with multiple rings
 Similar “chemical skeleton”
 Various types
 Important constituents of the membrane (Cholesterol)

Vitamin-A
Part of rhodopsin (required for vision)

Vitamin-D
Regulates absorption of calcium from small intestine

Vitamin-E
Protects cells from damaging effects of redox reactions

Vitamin-K
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Involved in blood clotting
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Overview (Part II)

• Cells as fundamental units of life

• Cell types
• Cell components

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