Download Biological Molecules - Westgate Mennonite Collegiate

Intro to Biological Molecules
Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins, Nucleic Acids
Types of Biological Molecules
1. Many biological molecules are polymers
A.
polymers are long chains or branching chains based on
repeating subunits (monomers)

example: proteins (the polymer) are made from amino acids (the
monomers)

example: nucleic acids (the polymer) are made from nucleotides (the
monomers
Types of Biological Molecules
Polymer
Protein
Nucleic Acids
Carbohydrates
Monomer
Amino Acids
Nucleotides
monosaccharides
Types of Biological Molecules
B. very large polymers (hundreds of subunits or more) are called
macromolecules
C. polymers are degraded into monomers by hydrolysis (“break
with water”)

typically requires an enzyme to occur at a decent rate

hydrogen from water is attached to one monomer, and a hydroxyl
from water is attached to the other
Types of Biological Molecules

Hydrolysis/Degradation:
H-mono-mono-OH  H-mono-OH + H-mono-OH
H2O
Types of Biological Molecules
D. monomers are covalently linked to form polymers by
condensation/dehydration

also typically requires an enzyme to occur at a decent rate

typically the equivalent of a water molecule is removed (dehydration
synthesis)

Condensation/Dehydration Synthesis Reaction:
H-Mono-OH + H-Mono-OH  H-mono-mono-OH
H2O
Types of Biological Molecules
2. The four major classes of biologically important organic
molecules are:
 carbohydrates
 lipids
 proteins or polypeptides (and related compounds)
 nucleic acids (and related compounds)