BIOMOLECULES
CSS BIOLOGY LECTURE II
MISS AREEBA SHAFI
What are Biomolecules?
➢ All living organisms require certain organic
molecules to fulfill their requirements to
survive, we call these molecules as
Biomolecules.
➢ Biomolecule means “molecule of life”.
➢ They all are organic as they possess carbon
as a major constituent.
➢ The study of biomolecules is called
Biochemistry.
➢ They are large molecules that’s why called
Macromolecules (polymers that are further
made up of monomers)
Why CARBON?
• Chemistry of carbon is the chemistry of
life.
• That is so because C is a unique element
that forms unlimited number of
compounds.
• Carbon is a light element and has atomic
number 6.
• It has 4 electrons in the outer most shell
(tetravalent), and it can form four
covalent bonds at a time.
• Carbon molecules can make single,
double, or triple covalent bonds.
BIOMOLECULES &
CELL
• A living cell comprises of 85-90% water.
• Water is the most abundant part of a living cell.
• Other than water, rest of the constituents are referred to as Dry
weight of the cell.
• Macromolecules constitute 80-90% of the dry weight of the cell.
• In biomolecules, around 25 elements can be found but the six
major elements of life are CHNOPS.
MONOMER
POLYMER
BIOMOLECULES
PROTEINS CARBOHYDRATES
Monomer→Amino Monomer→
acids Monosaccharaides
NUCLEIC LIPIDS
ACIDS Monomer→ Fatty
Monomer→ acids and glycerol
Nucleotides
Building up
POLYMERS!
❑ Biomolecules are synthesized by joining
many small monomers in the form of
chain.
❑ During formation, a water molecule is
released at each step.
❑ As a consequence, synthesis of
biomolecules is called Dehydration
synthesis or Condensation.
Breaking down
POLYMERS!
❑ Biomolecules are broken down by a
process called Hydrolysis.
❑ During breakdown, a water molecule is
added at each step.
❑ Hydrolysis is just the opposite process
of Dehydration synthesis.
CARBOHYDRATES
• Carbohydrate means “Hydrated
carbon”.
• Their monomer is called
Monosaccharide, and their polymer
can be called Polysaccharide.
• They are mostly sweet in taste.
• They are made up of C,H and O in
ratio 1:2:1, for eg: Glucose→ C6H12O6.
• All names of carbohydrates end with
“ose”
• They are primarily used as energy
source especially Glucose, and for
structural support.
SOURCES
EXAMPLES
• Fructose → fruit sugar
• Lactose → milk sugar
• Sucrose → table sugar
• Ribose/Deoxyribose → DNA and RNA sugar
• Excess carbohydrates make polysaccharides
(polymers) such as:
➢ Cellulose (In plant cell wall)
➢ Glycogen (stored in animal liver)
➢ Starch (stored in plant vacuoles)
CARBOHYDRATE DETECTION
❑ Indicators are the agents that detect the presence of certain
compounds.
❑ For carbohydrates, its Benedict’s solution → Benedict’s test.
❑ It detects most of the mono and disaccharides (except
sucrose).
❑ Iodine test is also used for the detection of starch.
LIPIDS
● They are insoluble in water.
● They repel water as they are hydrophobic in nature.
● They are also comprised of C,H and O but oxygen is
only present in trace amounts.
● Their monomer has two components:
1. Glycerol→ an alcohol with three oxygen groups.
2. Fatty acids→ long chains of hydrocarbon.
● Most of the lipids are Triglycerides (3 fatty acid
chains + 1 glycerol)
● They have vital functions in life like:
1. Storing energy
2. Forming water-proof barriers
3. Chemical messengers
4. insulation
FATS VS OILS
FATS OILS
• They are called
• They are called
Saturated
Unsaturated
acylglycerols.
acylglycerols.
• They are solid at room
• They are liquid at room
temperature.
temperature.
• They possess single
• They possess double
bonds only.
and triple bonds.
• For eg: Ghee
• For eg: Vegetable oil
SOURCES
STEROIDS
• Its an important class
of lipids.
• These are structures
with four rings bonded
together.
• Function:
➢ Sex hormones in male
and female.
➢ Cholesterol
LIPID DETECTION
Brown paper can be used to Ethanol can be used as it dissolves lipids.
detect lipids because oily It is then diluted with water, and then lipids come
foods tend to leave stains out of the solution.
upon contact. It then makes an emulsion (cloudy liquid).
PROTEIN
• Protein means “First rank”.
• They are made up of C,H,O and N.
• Monomer is called Amino acid.
• Polymer is called polypeptide or protein.
• Peptide is a single chain of amino acids while
polypeptide is several chains put together.
• Amino acids are joined together via
dehydration synthesis.
• They undergo many vital functions like:
➢ Structural support
➢ Enzymes
➢ Hormones
➢ Fighting infections
➢ Transport of materials
AMINO ACID
. Each amino acid atleast
possess one basic group
called amino group (NH₂), and
one acidic group called
carboxylic group (COOH),
attached to a single carbon
called ᾰ-carbon.
. Here R is the radical group.
➢ On the basis of R-group,
amino acids are of 20 types.
SOURCES
• Amino acids are
bound together by
Dehydration
synthesis or
Condensation.
• The C-group of one
amino acid binds
to the N-group of
another.
• These bonds are
called Peptide
bond.
— PEPTIDE BOND OR LINKAGE
STRUCTURE OF PROTEINS
➢ PRIMARY PROTEIN → Amino acids joined in linear chain.
➢ SECONDARY PROTEIN → Proteins are bent and molded in
the form of helix or sheet.
➢ TERTIARY PROTEIN → Proteins form three-dimensional
structure.
➢ QUATERNARY STRUCTURE → Multiple 3-D sub-units when
work together as a single unit.
“Loss of structure results in loss of biological function”
PROTEIN DETECTION
NUCLEIC
ACIDS
• They are acidic in nature and associated with
cell nucleus, that’s why named so.
• They are information carriers.
• They are made up of C,H,O,P and N.
• They contain Blueprints for making proteins.
• Monomer is called Nucleotide while polymer is
called Polynucleotide.
• Examples:
1. DNA → carry information form one generation
to another.
2. RNA → carry information within cell.
DNA & RNA
NUCLEOTIDE
A single nucleotide is comprised of
three components:
1. 5-carbon sugar (deoxyribose in DNA
and ribose sugar in RNA)
2. Phosphate group
3. Nitrogenous base
INTERESTING
FACTS
DNA can be passed from DNA pass on information A single DNA contains
parents to their offspring, to RNA and then they information equal to
these traits are make proteins at some 600,000 printed
considered as hereditary. ribosomes. pages of 500 words each