| Term | Definition |
|---|
| macromolecules | carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, proteins |
| carbohydrates/polysaccharides | most abundant biomolecules on Earth |
| carbohydrate functions | 1. cell walls for plants, fungi, bacteria; 2. energy for cell processes; 3. exoskeletons of insects and crustaceans; 4. connective tissues in animals (cartilage); 5. lubrication of skeletal joints; 6. cell-cell adhesion; 7. cell-cell recognition (ex. A,B,O blood groups) |
| carbohydrate chemical features | 1. most are (CH2O)n or Cn(H20)n; 2. have lots of OH groups; 3. can also contain Nitrogen, Sulfur, Phosphorus |
| major size classes of carbohydrates | monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides |
| simple sugars, most abundant is glucose; two major families - aldoses (aldehyde functional group on one end) and ketoses (ketone), usually contain 3-7 carbons, have one or more chiral centers (most sugars in living things are "D" except for arabinose is "L"), most exist as ring structures (99%) and 1% chain structure | monosaccharides |
| disaccharides | there are three common disaccharides |
| maltose | a disaccharide that is made up of two glucoses linked together, caused by starch and glycogen breakdown |
| sucrose | a disaccharide that is made up of glucose and fructose linked together, is made by plants |
| lactose | a disaccharide that is made up of galactose and glucose linked together, is milk sugar that is created in the small intestine |
| polysaccharides/glycans | usually 100's or 1,000's of sugar units, glucose is the major unit |
| starch | a storage polysaccharide that is made in plants (corn, potatoes) that has two forms: alpha amylose = long strings of glucose, unbranched, connected alpha (1-4) that is insoluble in H20; amylopectin = long strings of glucose, branched, connected alpha (1-4), insoluble in H20, usually very large |
| glycogen | a storage polysaccharide that is made in animals with a muscular system, they are long strings of glucose that are highly branched and linked alpha (1-4) |
| cellulose | a structural polysaccharide that comprises over half of the organic carbon in the biosphere, used in plant cell walls, insoluble in water, almost entirely extracellular (outside), long strings of unbranched glucose, linked beta (1-4) |
| cellulases | enzymes that break cellulose |
| chitin | a structural polysaccharide that comprises the exoskeletons of insects and crustaceans |
| gum | a structural polysaccharide in some plants |
| peptidoglycan | bacterial cell walls that are structural polysaccharides with small peptide chains |
Combine with other sets
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