RPT L10-Biomolecules Shared FINAL
RPT L10-Biomolecules Shared FINAL
Introductory Biology
(Lecture 10)
Evolution of life:
❑ Origin of Life
❑ Darwin's concepts of evolution
❑ Biodiversity
❑ The four major types of biomolecules are carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins.
❑ Among biomolecules, nucleic acids, namely DNA and RNA, have the unique function of storing an organism’s genetic code—the sequence of
nucleotides that determines the amino acid sequence of proteins, which are of critical importance to life on Earth.
❑ There are 20 different amino acids that can occur within a protein; the order in which they occur plays a fundamental role in determining protein
structure and function. Proteins themselves are major structural elements of cells. They also serve as transporters, moving nutrients and other
molecules in and out of cells, and as enzymes and catalysts for the vast majority of chemical reactions that take place in living organisms. Proteins
also form antibodies and hormones, and they influence gene activity.
❑ Likewise, carbohydrates, which are made up primarily of molecules containing atoms of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, are essential energy sources
and structural components of all life, and they are among the most abundant biomolecules on Earth. They are built from four types of sugar units—
monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides.
❑ Lipids, another key biomolecule of living organisms, fulfill a variety of roles, including serving as a source of stored energy and acting as chemical
messengers. They also form membranes, which separate cells from their environments and compartmentalize the cell interior, giving rise to
organelles, such as the nucleus and the mitochondrion, in higher (more complex) organisms.
❑ All biomolecules share in common a fundamental relationship between structure and function, which is influenced by factors such as the environment
in which a given biomolecule occurs.
❑ Lipids, for example, are hydrophobic (“water-fearing”); in water, many spontaneously arrange themselves in such a way that the hydrophobic ends of
the molecules are protected from the water, while the hydrophilic ends are exposed to the water. This arrangement gives rise to lipid bilayers, or two
layers of phospholipid molecules, which form the membranes of cells and organelles.
❑ In another example, DNA, which is a very long molecule—in humans, the combined length of all the DNA molecules in a single cell stretched end to
end would be about 1.8 metres (6 feet), whereas the cell nucleus is about 6 μm (6x10-6 metre) in diameter—has a highly flexible helical structure that
allows the molecule to become tightly coiled and looped. This structural feature plays a key role in enabling DNA to fit in the cell nucleus, where it
carries out its function in coding genetic traits.
Nucleic Acids
• A nucleic acid is a polymeric macromolecule made up of
repeated units of monomers called ‘Nucleotides’.
• Nucleic acids serve as repositories and transmitters of
genetic information.
• There are two types of Nucleic acids
I. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
II. Ribonucleic acid (RNA).
• A nucleotide has three components:
1. A Nitrogenous base (Purine and Pyrimidine)
2. A Sugar (ribose and deoxyribose)
3. A Phosphate group
Fig. 12. A nucleotide (Adenosine mono phosphate, AMP) containing Adenine, Deoxyribose sugar and a Phospohate group.
Nucleotide
Nucleotide
Nucleotide
Nucleotide
Proteins
• Proteins are a diverse and abundant class of biomolecules, constituting more than 50% of the
dry weight of cells. This diversity and abundance reflect the central role of proteins in virtually
all aspects of cell structure and function.
• Proteins are Linear Polymers of Amino Acids.
• Amino acid, as the name signifies a molecule that contains an amino group and an acid group.
It is an organic molecule that consists of a basic amino group, an acidic carboxyl group and a
unique organic side chain.
• Proteins are unbranched polymers of amino acids linked from carboxyl group to amino group,
through a type of amide linkage called peptide bond.
Fig. 8. Peptide bond formation is the creation of an amide bond between carboxyl group of one amino acid and the
amino group of another amino acid. R1 and R2 represent, Side chain R groups of two different amino acids.
Amino acids, building blocks of Proteins
Amino acids are classified into two categories:
i) Essential amino acids, which are not synthesized by the body and
ii)Non-essential amino acids, which are synthesized by the body.
1 Histidine 01 Alanine
2 Isoleucine 02 Asparagine
3 Leucine 03 Aspartate
4 Lysine 04 Arginine
5 Methionine 05 Cysteine
6 Phenylalanine 06 Glutamate
7 Threonine 07 Glutamine
8 Tryptophan 08 Glycine
9 Valine 09 Proline
10 Serine
11 Tyrosine
Functional Classification of Proteins
Proteins are classified into various groups based on their function
1. Structural proteins : Keratin of hair and nails, collagen of bone.
2. Enzymes or catalytic proteins : Hexokinase, pepsin (metabolism, digestion)
3. Transport proteins : Haemoglobin, serum albumin
4. Hormonal proteins : Insulin, growth hormone
5. Contractile proteins : Actin, myosin (muscle)
6. Storage proteins : Ovalbumin, glutelin (seeds)
7. Genetic proteins : Nucleoproteins (e.g. Histones)
8. Defense proteins : Immunoglobulins (antibodies), Snake venoms
9. Receptor proteins : Interferon receptor (e.g. cytokines) are signaling proteins released by
host cells against virus. A virus-infected cell will release interferons
causing nearby cells to heighten their anti-viral defenses.
Lipids
• Lipids are a chemically diverse and heterogeneous group of compounds and it is difficult to define them
precisely. The common and defining features of lipids are their low solubility in water and solubility in
organic solvents. e.g. fats, oils, waxes, phospholipids, sphingo-phospholipids, etc.,
• The biological functions of the lipids are as diverse as their chemistry.
• Fats and oils are the principal stored forms of energy in many organisms.
• Phospholipids and sterols are major structural elements of biological membranes.
• Lipids play crucial roles as
1. Enzyme cofactors : Vitamin K (Phylloquinone)
2. Electron carriers : Coenzyme Q (Mitochondria)
3. Light-absorbing pigments : Chlorophyll
4. Hydrophobic anchors for proteins : Glycosylphosphatidylinositol
5. “Chaperones” to help membrane proteins fold : Phosphatidyl-ethanolamine
6. Emulsifying agents in the digestive tract : Diglycerides
7. Hormones : Testosterone
8. Intracellular messengers : Diacylglycerol (DAG)
Carbohydrates
• Carbohydrate is the most abundant biomolecule on earth. Each year, photosynthesis converts
more than 100 billion metric tons of CO2 and H2O into cellulose and other plant products.
• Carbohydrate polymers (also called glycans) serve as structural and protective elements in the
cell walls of bacteria, plants and in the connective tissues of animals.
• Complex carbohydrate polymers, that are covalently attached to the proteins or lipids act as
signal molecules and are called Glycoconjugates.
• Carbohydrates are polyhydroxy aldehydes or ketones.
• There are three major size classes of carbohydrates: monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, and
polysaccharides (the word “Saccharide” is derived from Greek sakcharon, meaning “sugar”).
Alteration of saccharon, from Ancient Greek, via Pali from Sanskrit शर्करा (śárkarā).
When the Greeks introduced from Asia Minor, it became in ancient Greece as Sakchar or Sakcharon.
Romans who subsequently took the word from the Greeks wrote it as Saccharum or Saccharon.
Carbohydrates
Mono-, 1.2 Di- and Oligo-saccharides
Fig. 4. Starch (Amylose and Amylopectin) and Glycogen (highly branched amylopectin).
Starch contains two types of glucose polymers, Amylose (Linear α(1→4) linkages) and
Amylopectin (Branched by α(1→6) linkages), (less soluble in water and present in Plants as
storage polysaccharide).
Glycogen has the same basic structure, but has more branching than Amylopectin. (water
soluble and present in fungi and Animals as storage polysaccharide)
Important Links
Macromolecules
❑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgfknBZaVTI
❑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO244P1e9QM
❑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhABWQC3YDs (Nucleic Acids)
❑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeOrvA9ikW8 (Nucleic Acids)
❑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMg517MHDJs (Proteins)
❑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebScOnAJdu0 (Lipids)
❑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQyWJIn1HYE (Carbohydrates)
❑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu2bJgEZtwE (Replication)
❑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlOqI3PQwjo (Transcription)
Ghee vs Butter