Carbohydrates consist of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, often in the proportion

1:2:1. That is, a carbohydrate has twice as many hydrogen atoms as either carbon
or oxygen atoms (CH2O)n. Sugars and starches are familiar examples.
Carbohydrates store energy, which is released when their bonds are broken. Some
carbohydrates physically support cells and tissues, and others distinguish different
cell types. The generic term “saccharide” or sugar is used when we describe
carbohydrates.

Monosaccharides and Disaccharides are Simple Carbohydrates

Monosaccharides are the smallest carbohydrates. Monosaccharides differ from each

other by how many carbons they contain, usually from three to seven, and how their
atoms are bonded. For example, three monosaccharides with the same molecular
formula (C6H12O6) but different chemical structures are glucose (Blood sugar),
galactose, and fructuse (fruit sugar). Monosaccharides are sometimes called simple
carbohydrates or sugars. The smallest complex carbohydrates is a disaccharide,
which forms when two monosaccharides link through dehydration synthesis. Many
plants, including sugarcane and sugar beets, contain abundant sucrose. Maltose,
formed from two glucose molecules, provides energy in sprouting seeds and is used
to make beer. Lactose, or milk sugar, is a disaccharide containing glucose and
galactose.

Polysaccharides Provide Energy Storage and Structure

Oligosaccharides are moderately sized carbohydrates often used by cells for

identification and forming complex structures. Oligosaccharides are attached by the
cell to proteins or lipids on the cell’s surface and give the cell unique functions and
identity. These glycoproteins and glycolipids on cell surfaces are important in
immunity, which is based on the distinctiveness of the cell membranes among
individuals. Oligosaaccharides are also important in enabling proteins called
antibodies to assume their characteristic three-dimensional shapes, which is essential
to their function in protecting an animal’s body from infection.

Comlex carbohydrates are familiar to dieters and runners as food but are found in
other organisms as structural elements. Chemically, they are usually made of
polysaccharides containing hundreds of glucose monomers or modified sugars. The
most common polysaccharides are cellulose, chitin, starch, and glycogen.

Cellulose and starch are long chains of glucose, but they differ from each other by
the orientation of the bonds that link the monomers. Starch is a familiar food
component, but cellulose forms wood and parts of plant cell walls and is the most
common organic compound in nature. The seemingly minor chemical difference
between them results in very different characteristics, including our ability to digest
one and not the other.

Chitin, the second most common poly saccharide in nature, resembles cellulose, but
one OH group in each glucose molecule is replaced with a functional group that
contains nitrogen. Chitin forms the flexible exoskeletons of insects, spiders, and
crustaceans and forms the cell wall of fungi.

Concepts

 Carbohydrates are based on the formula (CH2O)n. The most common

monosaccharide(simple sugar) is glucose.
 Oligosaccharides are important components of identity molecules. Polymers of
glucose form complex carbohydrates (polysaccharides) such as starch and
cellulose.
  Changing the arrangement of the monomers and modifying glucose produces
different characterisctics for starch, cellulose, and chitin.

Lipids

All of us are familiar with oil and fat, which are composed of lipids. Lipids are vital to
life in many ways. They are necessary for growth and for the utilization of some
vitamins. Fat is also an excellent energy source, providing more than twice as much
energy as equal weights of carbohydrate or protein. Because they are hydrophobic ,
lipids are major component of the membranes that enclose all cells. Within cells, they
form compartments, separating one aqueous environment from another.

Like carbohydrates, lipids are diverse molecules containing carbon, hydrogen, and
oxygen. But with fewer oxygen atoms than carbohydrates, lipids have very different
properties. Most notably, lipid molecules dissolve in organic solvents but not in water.

In our own bodies, nerve transmission is faster due to the lipid rich cells that ensheath
nervee cells. Lipids called waxes coat leaves, fur, and feaathers, makig them water-
repellent. Human milk is rich in lipids, partly to suit the rapid growth of the brain in
the first 2 years of life.

Fat cells aggregate as adipose tissue in animals. White adipose tissue forms most of
the fat in human adults, cushioning organs and insulating against loss of body heat.
A rare type, brown adipose tssue found in hibernating mamals and in newborn
humans. Metabolic processes unique to these cells convert ft directly to heat, making
hibernation possible and keeping infants warm.

Fatty Acids Combine to Form Triglycerides and Phospholipids

By varying the kinds of molecules found in lipids, a variety of fuctions are possible.
The simplest type of lipid in nature, fatty acids are long hydrocarbons of up to 36
carbon atoms with an acidic functional group at one end. The character of fatty acids
depends on their degree of saturation, which is a measure of their hydrogen content.
A saturated fatty acid contains all the hydrogen it possibly can, which occurs when
single bonds connect all the carbons. A fatty acid is unsaturated if it has at least one
double bond and polyunsaturated if it has more than one double bond.

Unsaturation (double bonds) in fatty acids causes them to form kinks and spread
their “tails”. This allows lipids to be more fluid and produces an oily consistency at
room temperature. Lipids in plants are less saturated than those in animals. Olive oil
is an example of a monounsaturated fat. The more saturated animal fats tend to be
more solid, like butter or lard. A food-processing technique called hydrogenation,
used to produce margarine, adds hydrogen to an oil to solidify it – in essence,
saturating a formerly unsaturated fat.

Fatty acids combine to form more complex lipids. A triglycerides consists of three
fatty acids joined to a three-carbon molecule called glycerol. Dehydration synthesis
combines the fatty acids and glycerol,releasing water. A triglyceride is what is
commonly known as “fat” and is a compact way for cells to store energy.

The fundamental molecule of membranes, the phospholipid, is formed when enzymes

replace one of the fatty acids in a triglyceride with phosphate(a functional group,
PO4). The oxygen rich phosphate is highly negatively charged and, therefore,
hydrophilic. This end of a phospholipid associates readily with water, while the other
avoids it.

Sterols Make Up Hormones and Cholesterol

Sterols are lipid molecules based on four interconnected carbon rings. Additions and
modifications of this basic structure yield hormones, vitamins, and cholesterol.
Cholesterol is vital for cells to maintain the fluidity of cell membranes and can be
modified to make other lipids, including the sex hormones testosterone and estrogen.
As virtually all cells neet it, cholesterol is constantly being produced by specialized
cells. In humans, this occurs i the liver, and it is this process that is inhibited by new
drugs that lower cholesterol. Since it is so hydophobic, proteins must surround
cholesterol to carry it through the bloodstream. If this process is disrupted,
cholesterol condenses on arteries, causing disease.

Wax Protects Cell

Waxes are fatty acids combined with either alcohol (molecules containing an OH
group) or other hydrocarbons that usually form a hard, water-repellent covering.
These lipids help waterproof fur, feathers, leaves, fruits, and some stems. Jojoba oil,
used in cosmetics and shampoos, unusual in that it is a liquid wax.

Concepts

 Lipids contain less oxygen that carbohydrates and are insoluble in water.
 The fundamental unit; of most lipids is the fatty acid, a long hydrocarbon with
an acidic functional group at one end.
 Fatty acids behave differently if they are unsaturated (containing double
bonds).
 Attaching fatty acids to a glycerol in a variety of ways produces fats
(triglycerides) or membrane components (phospholipids). Other modification
produce wax.
 Sterols are lipids based on an interconnecting ring structure. Examples are
cholesterol and sex hormones.
 Cholesterol is vital to cells but needs special transport method.

Proteins

Proteins consist of monomers of amino acids linked to form one or more polypeptide
chains. Proteins enable blood to clot, muscles to contract, oxygen to reach tissues,
and nutrients to be broken down to release energy. Enzymes are proteins that allow
biochemical reactions to proceed fast enough to sustain life. Structural proteins are
the foundation of hair and bone. Proteins in membranes mark our cell surfaces as
distinctly ours. Proteins control or contribute to all of life’s activities. In contrast, a
polysaccharide is a polymer of only one or a few types of monomers and has little
diversity function. Proteins also differ from carbohydrates and lipids due to the
presence of a variety of elements, such as nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus, in some
of the amino acids

Amino acids are the Monomers of protein

To build proteins, organism make use of the 20 types of amino acids, even though
chemically many others exist. These 20 amino acids make possible a nearly infinite
variety of protein.
Amino acid structure

All amino acids contain a central carbon bonded to four different functional
components:

1. A hydrogen atom;
2. A carboxyl group(acid), which is a carbon atom double bonded to one oxygen
and single-bonded to another oxygen carrying a hydrogen (COOH);
3. An amino group, which is a nitrogen atom single-bonded to two hydrogen
atoms (NH2)
4. A side chain, or R group, which can be any of several chemical groups.

The nature of the R group distinguishes the 20 types of biological amino acids. An R
group may be as simple as the lone hydrogen atom in glycine or as complex as the
two organic rings of tryptophan. The R groups of two amino acids, cysteine and
methionine, contain sulfur.

The Peptide Bond

Two amino acids join by way of dehydration synthesis, just as two monosaccharides
yield a disaccharide or fatty acids become triglyceride. To join amino acids, the
carboxyl group of one amino acid combines with the nitrogen group of the other and
forms a peptide bond. Two linked amino acids form a dipeptide; three, a tripeptide;
larger chain with fewer than 100 amino acids are oligopeptides (often just called
peptides); and finally, those with 100 or more amino acids are polypeptides. The kind
and number of amino acids joined together determines what the protein will be and
how it is used.

Proteins Must Fold to Function

As protein is synthesized in a cell, it folds into a three-dimensional structure, or

conformation based on the order and kinds of amino acids it contains. The final shape
of a protein arises from interactions with other proteins and water molecules and
bonds that form within the protein itself.

Levels of protein structure

The conformation of a protein may be described at four levels. The simplest, or

primary (10), structure of a protein is just the amino acid sequence of its polypeptide
chain. Hydrogen bonds between parts of the peptide “backbone” form the secondary
(20) structure, folding the polypeptide into coils, sheets, loops, and combinations of
these shapes. R group can affect where these hydrogen bonds form but are not
actually part of them. As a result, common patterns of structure, called motifs, will
emerge. The two common motifs are alpha helices and beta-pleated sheets.

Proteins fold into their final tertiary (30) structures through interactions between R
group and each other or water. Oppositely charged R groups bend the polypeptide as
they attract and form ionic bonds. Other R groups attract and bind through hydrogen
bonds. Since thousands of water molecules usually surround a protein, hydrophilic R
groups move toward water, and hydrophobic R groups move away from water toward
the protein’s interior. The resulting hydrophobic interactions are a major contributor
to the final shape of the protein. The entire structure is further stabilized by the
formation of covalent bonds between sulfur atoms in some R groups. Called disulfide
bonds, these are abundant in structural proteins such as keratin, which forms hair,
scales, beaks, wool, and hooves. A “permanent wave” curls hair by breaking disulfide
bonds in hair keratin and re-forming those bonds in hair that has been wrapped
around curlers.
Many proteins are functional at the tertiary level. However, some proteins are
composed of more than one polypeptide, held together through hydrogen or ionic
bonds. This level of organization is referred to as quaternary (40) structure. Many of
the critical enzymes of life are composed of dozens of different polypeptides. Even
hemoglobin, the major functional protein of blood, exist as two sets of two different
polypeptides. The quaternary structure is also important in controlling protein
functions, as accessory polypeptides reversibly combine to either active or inhibit
protein. 0.3

Nucleic Acids

Synthesizing a protein is more complex task than synthesizing a carbohydrate or fat

because of the great variability of amino acid sequences. How does an organism
“know” which amino acids to string together to form a protein? Like a blueprint or
recipe, a protein’s amino acid sequence is encoded in the sequence of chemical units
in molecule called a nucleic acid.

The two types of nucleic acids are deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid
(RNA). Both are polymers of molecules called nucleotides. A nucleotide consists of a
five-carbon sugar (deoxyribose in DNA and ribose in RNA), another example of sugar
being used for something other than energy. To this sugar are added one or more
phosphate groups (PO4) and one of five types of nitrogen-containing compounds
called nitrogenous bases. The nucleotides (often just “bases”) adenine (A), guanine
(G), thymine (T), cytosine (C), and uracil (U) form all nucleic acids. Both DNA and
RNA use A, C, and G, but not T is found only in DNA, and U is unique to RNA. DNA is
a double helix resembling a spiral staircase, with alternating sugars and phosphate
forming the rails and nitrogenous bases forming the rungs.

Long sequences of DNA contain information that is first copied to RNA molecules,
then used by cells to guide assembly of amino acids into polypeptide chains. Each
group of three bases in a row specifies a particular amino acid , in correspondence
called the genetic code. An entire polypeptide is encoded by sequence of DNA known
as gene. Every organism uses DNA to encode its proteins using the same genetic
code to decipher each unique gene. Different genes mean different proteins; different
proteins mean different organisms.

The two strands of nucleotides that make up the DNA double helix are
complementary, or opposites of each other.