Campbell Essential Biology Ch 3

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Organic Compounds

Back 1

A chemical compound containing the element carbon and usually synthesized by cells.

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Hydrocarbons

Back 2

A chemical compound composed only of the elements carbon and hydrogen.

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Functional Groups

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The atoms that form the chemically reactive part of an organic molecule.

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Macromolecules

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A giant molecule in a living organism. Examples include proteins, polysaccharides, and nucleic acids.

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Polymers

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A large molecule consisting of many identical or similar molecular units, called monomers, covalently joined together in a chain.

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Dehydration Reaction

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A chemical process in which a polymer forms when monomers are linked by the removal of water molecules. One molecule of water is removed for each pair of monomers linked. A dehydration reaction is the opposite of a hydrolysis reaction.

Front 7

Hydrolysis

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A chemical process in which macromolecules are broken down by the chemical addition of water molecules to the bonds linking their monomers; an essential part of digestion. The opposite of a dehydration reaction.

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Carbohydrates

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A biological molecule consisting of simple single-monomer sugars (monosaccharides), two-monomer sugars (disaccharides), and other multi-unit sugars (polysaccharides).

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Monosaccharides

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The smallest kind of sugar molecule; a single-unit sugar; also known as a simple sugar. The building blocks of more complex sugars and polysaccharides.

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Isomers

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One of two or more molecules with the same molecular formula but different structures and thus different properties.

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Disaccharides

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A sugar molecule consisting of two monosaccharides linked by a dehydration reaction.

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Polysaccharides

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A carbohydrate polymer consisting of many monosaccharides (sugars) linked by covalent bonds.

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Glycogen

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A complex, extensively branched plysachharide mad up of many glucose monomers; serves as an energy-storage molecule in liver and muscle cells.

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Cellulose

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A large polysaccharide composed of many glucose monomers linked into cable-like fibrils that provide structural support in plant cell walls. Because cellulose cannot be digested by animals, it acts as roughage, or fiber, in the diet.

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Hydrophilic

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"Water-loving"; pertainng to polar, or charged, molecules (or parts of molecules), which are soluble in water.

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Lipids

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An organic compound consisting mainly of carbon and hydrogen atoms linked by nonpolar covalent bonds and therefore mostly hydrophobic and insoluble in water. lipids include fats, waxes, phospholipids, and steroids.

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Hydrophobic

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"Water-fearing"; pertaining to polar, or charged molecules (or parts of molecules), which are soluble in water.

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Fat

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A large lipid molecule made from an alcohol called glcerol and three fatty acids, a triglyceride. Most fats function as energy-storage molecules.

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Triglyceride

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A dietary fat, which consists of a molecule of glycerol linked to three molecules of fatty acids.

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Unsaturated

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Pertaining to fats and fatty acids whose hydrocarbon chains lack the maximum number of hydrogen atoms and therefore have one or more double covalent bonds. Do NOT solidify at room temperature

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Saturated

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Pertaining to fats and fatty acids whose hydrocarbon chains contain the maximum number of hydrogens and therefore have no double covalent bonds. DO solidify at room temperature.

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Atherosclerosis

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A cardiovascular disease in which growths called plaques develop on the inner walls of the arteries, narrowing the passageways through which blood can flow.

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Hydrogenation

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The process of converting unsaturated fats to saturated fats by the addition of hydrogen.

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Trans Fat

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An unsaturated fatty acid produced by the partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils and present in hardened vegetable oils, most margarines, commercial baked foods, and many fried foods.

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Steroids

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A type of lipid whose carbon skeleton is in the form of four fused rings: three 6-sided rings and one 5-sided ring, Examples are cholesterol, testosterone, and estrogen.

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Protein

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A biological polymer constructed from amino acid monomers.

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Amino Acid

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An organic molecule containing a carboxyl group, an amino group, a hydrogen atom, and a variable side chain; serves as the monomer of proteins.

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Peptide Bond

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The covalent linkage between two amino acid units in a polypeptide, formed by a dehydration reaction between two amino acids.

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Polypeptide

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A chain of amino acids linked by peptide bonds.

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Primary Structure

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The first level of protein structure; the specific sequence of amino acids making up a polypeptide chain.

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Denaturation

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A process in which a protein unravels, losing its specific conformation and hence function; can be caused by changes in pH or salt concentration or by high temperature; also refers to the separation of the two strands of the DNA double helix, caused by similar factors.

Front 32

Nucleic Acid

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A polymer consisting of many nucleotide monomers; serves as a blueprint for proteins and, through the actions of proteins, for all cellular structures and activities. The two types are DNA and RNA.

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DNA

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The genetic material that organisms inherit from their parent; a double-stranded helical macromolecule consisting of nucleotide monomers with a deoxyribose sugar, a phosphate group, and the nitrogenous bases adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine. Gene.

Front 34

RNA

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A type of nucleic acid consisting of nucleotide monomers with a ribose sugar, a phosphate group, and the nitrogenous bases adenine, cytosine, guanine, and uracil. Usually single stranded, functions in protein synthesis and as the genome of some viruses.

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Gene

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A unit of inheritance in DNA (or RNA, in some viruses) consisting of a specific nucleotide sequence that programs the amino acid sequence of a polypeptide. Most of the genes of a eukaryote are located in its chromosomal DNA; a few are carride by the DNA of mitochondria and chloroplasts.

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Nucleotides

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An organic monomer consisting of a five-carbon sugar ring covalently bonded to a nitrogenous base and a phosphate group. Nucleotides are the building blocks of nucleic acids.

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Sugar-phosphate Backbone

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The alternating chain of sugar and phosphate to which DNA and RNA nitrogenous bases are attached.

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Double Helix

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The form assumed by DNA in living cells, referring to its two adjacent polynucleotide strands wound into a spiral shape.