Categories: All - carbohydrates - lipids - proteins - nucleotides

by Shams Al Molhem 6 years ago

359

Macromolecules

Macromolecules

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Carbohydrates

Monomer: Monosaccharides

Functions: Quick energy, Energy storage, Structure

Ex: Sugars, Starches, Cellulose (Cell Wall), Glycogen

Unique properties: Starch-energy storage in plants, Glycogen-energy storage in animals, in liver & muscles, Cellulose-structure in plants (cell walls), Chitin-structure in arthropods & fungi exoskeleton. Use dehydration synthesis to build carbohydrates.

Lipids

Monomer: Triglycerides
Elements: Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen

Functions: Energy storage, Cushions organs, Insulates body

Ex: Oils, Phospholipids, Steroids, Waxes

Unique properties: Non-polar, Hydrophobic - doesn’t like water.

Nucleic acids

Monomer: Nucleotides
Elements: 5 Carbon sugar, Nitrogenous base, Phosphate group

Functions: Store and transmit hereditary information

Ex: RNA AND DNA

Unique Properties: series of bases encodes information

Proteins

Monomer: Amino acids
Elements: Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Hydrogen

Functions: Hormones, Movement, Immune system, Enzymes

Ex: Skin, Hair, Fingernails, Enzymes

Unique Properties: Proteins fold & twist into 3-D shape. Proteins do their jobs, because of their shape. Unfolding a protein destroys its shape. wrong shape = can’t do its job. unfolding proteins = “denature”

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