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Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are one of the four basic macromolecules of life, made from Carbon,
Hydrogen and Oxygen. General formulae of carbohydrate is (CH2O)n. They are also
polymers made up of monomers called monosaccharaides (e.g. glucose- blood sugar,
fructose- a sugar found in honey, galactose-a sugar in milk and yogurt).
Monomers
Use
sucrose
Table sugar
lactose
Present in Milk
maltose
product of starch
digestion
Cellulose is also a polysaccharide and glucose is its monomer. It founds in the cell
wall of the plants. These are much tougher than cell membranes. This toughness is due to
the hydrogen-bonds between neighboring chains.
Structure of Cellulose
Protein
Proteins are polymers that are made up of amino acids (monomer). Amino acids are
small molecules that contain an amine (-NH2), a carboxyl acid (-COOH), and a side chain
(R).
There are twenty different amino acids. But each amino acid has a unique side chain
or R group. Amino acids joined together by peptide bonds and form protein polymer.
antibodies, transport proteins and structural proteins. Enzymes are biological catalyst and
they speed up the rate of biological reactions in living systems.
Structure of enzyme
Proteins, such as antibodies, are a part of the immune system or defense mechanism
in living systems.
Nucleic acid
Nucleic acids are the molecules that store and process genetic information inside the
cell. There are two types.
1. deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
2. ribonucleic acid (RNA)
Nucleic acid is makeup of small unit (monomer) called nucleotide. It contains a
sugar, a base, and a phosphate group.
Structure of nucleotide
1. DNA
DNA is found mainly in the nucleus of the cell. It contains the genetic or hereditary
information and made up four nucleotides.
adenine (A)
cytosine (C)
guanine (G)
thymine (T)
2. RNA
Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) is found mainly in the cytoplasm of the cell although it is
usually synthesized in the nucleus.
DNA contains the genetic codes to make RNA and the RNA in turn then contains the
codes for the primary sequence of amino acids to make proteins.
REFERENCE