Chapter 1

Nucleic acids

"information keepers of the cell" stop and transfer information. contain the instructions for all cellular functions and interactions. Linear molecules. Constructed from nucleotides. Monomers are nucleotides; Monosaccharide, heterocyclic aromatic ring; phosphate groups; linked into polymers by phosphodiester groups; two individual polymers associate forming a double helix;

Difference in bond strength between silicon and carbon

1. large molecules can be built with the use of carbon-carbon bonds as the backbone because of the stability of these bonds. 2. more energy is released when carbon-carbon bonds undergo combustion than when silicon reacts with oxygen. Thus, carbon-based molecules are stronger construction materials and are better fuels than silicon-based molecules.

Amino Acids

20 building blocks that form proteins

How did all this life come about?

A core of essential biochemical processes is shared by all organisms; descent from a common ancestor; Charles Darwin; Different because they have different biochemistries; System adapt until they become distinct; Similar characteristics reveal evolutionary relationships

Monomer

A molecule that can be bonded to other identical molecules to form a polymer

Lipids

A storage form of fuel and serve as a barrier. not polymers made of repeating units; dual chemical nature: hydrophilic and hydrophobic; forms barriers that delineate the cell from its environment and to establish intracellular compartments. can undergo combustion to provide large amounts of cellular energy. Crucial signal molecules as well. Monomers are fatty acids; alkane or alkene + carboxylic acid; Assembled onto small carbohydrate backbone; glycerol; ester group linkages;

Response

Adaptation of the system to the environment

A

Adenine; with T

Importance of Water

Aqueous and non-aqueous environments within individual cells;

ATP

Capture energy from the environment; storage and utilization

After hydrogen and oxygen, the next dos common element in the living system is ___.

Carbon

The basic unit of life is considered the _____.

Cell

Eukaryotes

Cells composed of multiple specialized compartments

Lipid

Class of biological macromolecules with many functions such as forming barriers between cell organelles, serving as a metabolic fuel, and cell-to-cell signaling.

C

Cytosine; with G

In higher organisms, which of the following is composed of a polymer with double-stranded phophodiester-linked monomers: RNA, DNA, protein, or carbohydrate

DNA

A group of enzymes called ____ catalyze replication

DNA polymerase

Mitochondrion

Energy production (ATP)

lysozome

Filled with proteases and other digestive enzymes

What is Life?

Founded on Chemical Principles; self sustaining; controlled catalysis; molecules organized in separable physical units; informational molecules; adaptation of the system to the environment; capture energy from the environment

Cell

Fundamental Unit of Life; Molecules organized in separable physical units;

G

Guanine; With C

Cytoplasm

Highly organized region of the cell where glycolytic metabolism occurs

A chemical that can dissolve in water is said to be ____

Hydrophilic

DNA

Informational molecules; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Genetic information is stored; constructed from four deoxyribonucleotides, differing from one another only in the ring structure of the bases- Adenine(A), Cytosine(C), Guanine(G) and Thymine (T); Double stranded helix. A with T and C with G information is inherited between generations

Eukaryotic Systems

Internal boundaries; physically separate, sub-cellular subgroups of molecules; group-specific mechanisms of information processing; Plants, animals, fungi, flagellates

Chloroplasts

Light energy into chemical energy

Cytoskeleton:

Macromolecular assemblies; structural filaments, composed of proteins; physical connections between organelles

Poisons that kill an organism as a result of a loss of high-energy ATP molecules are most likely to target which organelle?

Mitochondria

Eukaryotes

Outer boundary and internal boundaries; multiple compartments; different eukaryotic compartments have different biological functions;

Prokaryotes

Outer boundary only, single compartment; bacteria and archaea

Bacterial Systems

Outer physical boundary only, no internal boundaries; group specific mechanisms or information processing Cyanobacteria; heterotrophic bacteria

Archean Systems

Physical organization like bacteria; information processing like eukaryotes; Halophiles, thermophiles

Lysosome

Protein degradation

Golgi Vesicles

Protein maturation

What are the four key classes of biomolecules?

Proteins, DNA/RNA, lipids, carbohydrates. These are the larger, monomer or biopolymer molecules which perform many functions to maintain cellular life. Each has a different biochemical make-up.

The half-life of which of the following is likely to be shortest?

RNA

Translation

RNA information specifies polypeptide sequence; polypeptide sequence determines protein structure; protein structure provides function;

Endoplasmic Reticulum

Responsible for protein processing and xenobiotic metabolism.

Monosaccharides

Simple Sugars

Nucleus

Storage and retrieval of information

What is the role of the endoplasmic reticulum

The endoplasmic reticulum is series of membrane tubes or sacs. When studded with proteins (ribosomes) the endoplasmic reticulum is considered rough ER and is involved with the processing of nascent protein. smooth ER is involved in maturing proteins and carbohydrates, and is responsible for xenophobic metabolism of foreign compounds.

The central dogma describes

The flow of information between DNA, RNA and protein

Two

The number of hydrogen bonds formed between A and T

Three

The number of hydrogen bonds formed between G and C

How a protein folds is determined by:

The order of the amino acids found in the sequence

How do eukaryotic cells differ from prokaryotic cells?

The simplest answer is defined by the existence of organelle. Eukaryotic cells contain organelles including a nucleus, while prokaryotic cells do not have such compartments.

Transcription

The transfer of information from DNA to RNA

What gives proteins such a dominant role in biochemistry?

Their ability to spontaneously fold into complex three-dimensional structures

DNA is made from the building blocks adenine, guanine, cytosine, and

Thymine

T

Thymine; With A

Protein

Unbranched polymer that, when folded into its three-dimensional shape, performs much of the work of the cell.

U

Uracil

The structure of DNA described by watson and crick included:

a double helix and the base pairs that are stacked on the inside of the double helix.

DNA polymerase

a group of enzymes that catalyze the replication process.

Catalyst

agents that enhance the rate of chemical reactions without being permanently affected themselves.

Define an organelle

an organelle is often, but not always, enclosed by a membrane. Examples include the nucleus, mitochondria, and chloroplasts. However, the cytoplasm is defined as the area surrounded by the plasma membrane, excluding the organelles.

Species

are distinct biochemical systems;

combustion

biological fuels react with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water. Provides the energy to power the cell.

hydrophilic

can dissolve in water.

hydrophobic

cannot dissolve in water

Glucose

carbohydrate sugar; stored in animals as glycogen; stored in plants as starch.

RNA polymerase

catalyses the transcription process

The rigid material which provides structural support to a plant cell is/are called the

cell wall

glycogen

consists of many glucose molecules linked end to ending has occasional branches.

proteins

constructed from amino acids, linked by peptide bonds to form long unbranched polymers. Signal molecules and as receptors for signal molecules. Also play structural roles, allow mobility, and provide defenses against environmental dangers. Also are catalysts. sp3 carbon with four functional groups monomers linked into polymer by amide groups; polymer is a polypeptide polypeptides fold into complex 3D structures The functional entities; activities of proteins determine activities of cells. embedded in lipid or attached to it;

receptors

convey to the cell that a signal has been received and initiates the cellular response.

The structural components (filaments and tubules) are organelles called the

cytoskeleton

genes

discrete units containing the genome; determines the physical nature of the organism

Although all cells in an organism have the same DNA, tissues differ due to selective _____.

expression

Nucleotide

four building blocks that make up nucleic acids. Made from a five-carbon sugar, either a deoxyribose or a ribose, attached to a heterocyclic ring structure called a base and at least one phasephoryl group. DNA and RNA

proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and carbohydrates

four classes of biomolecules

Heritable information is packaged into discrete units called ___

genes

The most common carbohydrate fuel is ____

glucose

Genome

heritable information; part of the DNA

carbohydrates

important fuel source for most living creatures. Most common is the sugar glucose. Many of the components of the cell exterior are decorated with various carbohydrates that can be identified by other cells and serve as sites of cell-to-cell interactions. Monomers are monosaccharides. Linked by glycoside bonds to form polysaccharides;

Central dogma:

information flows from DNA to RNA and then to protein. Also, DNA is replicated; the first proposed idea of information processing at the level of gene expression; first proposed by Francis Crick in 1958

mRNA

is a template for the synthesis of proteins; frequently bookend down after use; similar to DNA except has uracil(U) instead of thymine, and the sugar component of the ribonucleotides contains an additional hydroxyl (OH) group.

Proteins are chiefly composed of which of the following?

long unbranched amino acid polymers

Dissolved inorganic ions

magnesium, potassium, sodium, calcium, iron, manganese

Oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon

make up 98% of the atoms in an organism

Mitochondria and Chloroplasts

membrane bound organelles with outer boundary; internal membranes, multiple compartments within the organelle; Energy conversion compartments

Organisms are known to be highly uniform at the _____ level

molecular

Which of the following organelles has a double membrane?

nucleus and mitochondria

Transcription

one form of nucleic acid, DNA is transcribed into RNA, which makes the genetic information accessible.

Unity of Biochemistry

organisms are remarkably uniform at the molecular level; aka unity of life

Extracellular material is taken into the cell via

phagocytosis

Large parcels of extracellular material are taken into the cell via:

phagocytosis

A nucleotide consists of one or more ____ groups, a 5-carbon ribose sugar, and a nitrogen-containing aromatic ring group.

phosphate

Mitochondria

production of ATP

Enzymes

protein catalysts Every process that takes place in living systems depends on enzymes. Controlled catalysis

Endoplasmic Reticulum

protein synthesis

The main function of the plasma membrane is to

provide a selectively permeable barrier with the aid of transport proteins

selective expression

refers to how it is important that only certain genes are transcribed, as well as when and where they are transcribed, are crucial to the fate of the cell.

Translation takes place on/in the

ribosomes

RNA

singe-stranded form of nucleic acid. information is transitory, used by an individual organism; some viruses are exceptions to this rule

replication

the process of copying the genome

The matrix of life

the reason that oxygen and hydrogen are so common is the ubiquity(appears everywhere) of water