Biological Molecules

Carbohydrates
Composition
Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen
The ratio of hydrogen to oxygen is 2 : 1

Monomer Main Sources Energy Supply Type

Simple Sugars Cereals, 1 gram of Monosaccharide e.g. glucose fructose,
or vegetables, carbohydrate respires disaccharide e.g. maltose, sucrose,
Monosaccharide glycogen, to give 17 kJ of lactose, and polysaccharide e.g. starch
starch, honey, energy. Immediate and cellulose.
grains, rice, source of energy.
bread, sugar
cane and other
plant storage
organs

Functions
They are the second source of energy for all living organisms in the absence of carbohydrates. They
are used in the formation of all cell membranes. Fats are used as solvent for fat soluble vitamins i.e.
Vitamins D, E, A, and K. Fats are deposited on the subcutaneous tissue and the abdominal cavity. They
also protect body organs from mechanical injury. Fats are also present on the waxy cuticles of leaves,
fruits, newly grown shoots, etc. and prevent the loss of water by transpiration. A thin layer of fat
under the skins of animals, called adipose tissue, keeps them warm, and prevents the loss of body
heat. A thick layer of fats called blubber under the skins of aquatic mammals, e.g. whales, seals,
dolphins, protect the loss of heat in cold water, and helps in buoyancy (to float) in water and acts as
stored food energy.

Starch Test
 Take 2cm3 of starch solution in a test
tube.
 Add to it a few drops of iodine solution.
Positive Test:
If the colour of the iodine changes from brown,
yellow or orange to blue black. It means starch is
present.
Negative Test:
If the colour of the iodine remains brown, orange
or yellow, it means starch is absent.

Reducing Sugar Test (Benedict's Test)

 Take 2cm3 of given solution or glucose solution or reducing sugar solution (sucrose isn't a
reducing sugar).
 Add Benedict's solution, equal in volume to the solution above.
 Boil (heat) in the water bath for 3-5 minutes.
Positive Test:
If the solution turns from blue to brick red, it means
reducing sugar is present.
Negative Test:
If the solution remains blue, it means reducing sugars
are not present.
Sequence of Colours:
Blue → Green → yellow → orange → red
0% 0.3% 0.5%
Sucrose is a non-reducing sugar. Polysaccharides aren't
considered reducing sugars, among the monosaccharides
and disaccharides (glucose, maltose, galactose, lactose,
fructose).

Fats or Lipids
Composition
Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen (but oxygen is very less than in carbohydrates e.g. the fatty acid
C18H36O2). If lipids are in solid form, they are called fats, and when they are in liquid form, they are
called oils. When one glycerol molecule chemically bonds with three fatty acids, a common fat or
triglyceride is formed. As in this equation

Thus, the word equation can be:

→
This process is known as esterification by condensation. Condensation is when small molecules
combine to form large molecules, with the loss of water. The reverse of condensation is hydrolysis.
Hydrolysis is when large molecule is broken down into smaller molecules with the use of water
molecules. Thus, then fats and water would be broken down into fatty acids and glycerol, so the word
equation for this process would be:
→

Basic Unit Main Sources Energy Supply Types

Glycerol and Egg yolk, 1g of fats/oils They are in two forms, saturated fats and
fatty acids fatty meats, respire to give unsaturated fats. Fats from animals are solid at
butter, 39kJ of energy. room temperature and contain a high proportion of
cream, The second source saturated fatty acids. Oils come from plant
cheese, of energy, after sources and are liquid at room temperature, and
vegetable oils carbohydrates. they have a high proportion of unsaturated fatty
acids.

Functions
They are the second source of energy for all living organisms in the absence of carbohydrates. They
are used in the formation of all cell membranes. Fats are used as solvent for fat soluble vitamins i.e.
Vitamins D, E, A, and K. Fats are deposited on the
subcutaneous tissue and the abdominal cavity. They also
protect body organs from mechanical injury. Fats are also
present on the waxy cuticles of leaves, fruits, newly grown
shoots, etc. and prevent the loss of water by transpiration.
A thin layer of fat under the skins of animals, called adipose
tissue, keeps them warm, and prevents the loss of body
heat. A thick layer of fats called blubber under the skins of
aquatic mammals, e.g. whales, seals, dolphins, protect the
loss of heat in cold water, and helps in buoyancy (to float) in water and acts as stored food energy.

Ethanol Emulsion Test

 Take one or two drops of oil in a dry test tube.
 Add 2cm3 of ethanol (not solution).
 Shake gently to dissolve the fats in the ethanol.
 Add 2cm3 of water.
Positive Test:
If a whitish or cloudy emulsion is formed on the top,
then fats are present.
Negative Test:
It remains the same as no emulsion forms.

Proteins
Composition
They are complex organic compounds. They are made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen; sulphur
or phosphorus may be present. The structure of an amino acid is like this:

In amino acids the difference is only in the 'R' group.

C : is central or α carbon (alpha)
H : hydrogen atom
COOH : carboxyl group (acidic part of an amino acid)
NH2 : amine group (basic part of an amino acid)
R : is a side chain (this part is different in every amino acid,
which is why we have 20 types of amino acids)

Basic Unit Main Sources Energy Supply Type

Amino Acids of Lean meat, fish, liver, 1 gram of protein Animal and plant proteins. In
twenty different milk, cheese, egg respires to give 17kJ humans there are 11 non-
kinds white, legumes, soya of energy. Only essential and 9 essential
beans, cereal grains, oxidised when amino acids (consumed from
caseinogen, protein in carbohydrates, food) required. Amino acids
milk, nuts and dried glycogen, and fats are joined together in any
fruits have been used up. number or order to form
different proteins (may be
folded, twisted or straight).
 Functions
They are the third source of energy, in the complete absence of
fats and carbohydrates. They are used in the formation of all cell
membranes, in all organisms, like animals, plants, algae, fungi and
bacteria etc. Proteins are used in the formation of muscles, nails,
horns, hair, hooves, haemoglobin, myoglobin, all enzymes, aswell as some hormones. Proteins are used
in the formation of antibodies to fight off diseases. They also help maintain the pH of blood and body
cells. There are channel and carrier proteins in the cell membranes.

Kwashiorkor
Kwashiorkor is a protein deficiency disease. It is a disease caused by the lack of proteins in diet. The
symptoms are:
 Scanty or less hair on the body
 Swollen abdomen
 Very weak and skinny bone structure
 Hypopigmentation results in dark and scally skin
 Stunted growth
 Underweight
 Swollen legs
 Anaemia
 Loss of appetite
 Less immunity
 Mentally retarded

Marasmus
Marasmus is a form of severe malnutrition characterised by energy deficiency. It can occur in anyone
with severe malnutrition but usually occurs in children. Body weight is reduced to less than 62% of
the normal (expected) body weight for the age. Marasmus occurrence increases prior to age 1,
whereas kwashiorkor occurrence increases after 18 months. It can be distinguished from
kwashiorkor in that kwashiorkor is protein deficiency with adequate energy intake whereas marasmus
is inadequate energy intake in all forms, including protein. Protein wasting in kwashiorkor generally
leads to edema and ascites, while muscular wasting and loss of subcutaneous fat are the main clinical
signs of marasmus. The prognosis is better than it is for kwashiorkor but half of severely
malnourished children die due to unavailability of adequate treatment. Marasmus is the most severe
form of protein-energy malnutrition in the world.

Biuret Test
 Biuret and Benedict's solutions are both blue
 Take 2cm3 of egg white or given solution
 And 1cm3 of Potassium hydroxide (KOH) or sodium
hydroxide (NaOH) solution
 Add copper-ii-sulphate - Cu(ii)SO4 - solution dropwise and
shake after each drop.
Positive Test:
If the colour of the biuret solution changes from blue to purple,
mauve, lilac of violet, it means proteins are present.
Negative Test:
If the colour remains the same or doesn’t change, proteins are absent.
Colour Change:
From blue to purple, mauve, lilac, or violet. (mnemonic: PML-V)
Nucleic Acids
Are of two types:
1. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)
2. RNA (ribonucleic acid)
o mRNA (messenger RNA)
o tRNA (transfer RNA - carries amino acids for
protein synthesis)
o rRNA (ribosomal RNA - present in ribosomes)
DNA forms a double helix bond, with bases A,T, G, C. 'A' will
always be paired up or in front of 'T', as they both form double
hydrogen bonds, whilst 'G' will always be paired up or in front of
'C' as they both form triple hydrogen bonds.
RNA forms single helix bond, with bases, A, U, G, C. 'A' will always
be paired up or in front of 'U', as they both form double hydrogen
bonds, whilst 'G' will always be paired up or in front of 'C' as they
both form triple hydrogen bonds.

Q.) In a sample of DNA, if there is 15% T, then how much will be

G?
Ans.) If T= 15%, then A= 15%,
Thus 100-15-15=70
70 is the sum of both G and C.
So, we divide 70 by 2
Thus 35% G and 35% C
Answer = 35%

Composition Nitrogenous Bases Function Monomers

Formed from A adenine DNA is the feature of all Nucleotides
carbon, T thymine living things e.g bacteria, A nucleotide structurally looks like
hydrogen, G guanine animals, plants, fungi etc. this:
oxygen, C cytosine Viruses either have DNA
nitrogen, and U uracil or RNA, but not both at
phosphorus. the same time. DNA and
proteins combine to
form chromosomes,
1. A 5 carbon sugar (ribose
which form genes. Both
sugar in RNA and
DNA strands are
deoxyribose sugar is DNA)
antiparallel to each
2. Phosphate group
other. They are held
3. A nitrogenous (organic) base
together by hydrogen
bonds between the two
strands. There are 46
chromosomes in every
cell of the body, except
for sperm and ovum,
which contain 23
chromosomes.
Replication, Transcription and Translation

The processes of replication and transcription take place in the nucleus of eukaryotes, and
translation takes place in the cytoplasm. However, in bacteria (prokaryotes), they take place in the
cytoplasm, because they have no nucleus and no other membrane-bound cell organelles e.g. no
mitochondria, chloroplast, and vacuole, etc.