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PAKISTAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL JEDDAH (ES)

BIOLOGY NOTES
Chapter 7: Diet & Nutrition
Biological Molecules
Name: ______________________ Y8_____ Date: ________

Biological molecules are molecules that make up living things. Biological molecules are large molecules,
necessary for life and these large molecules are made from smaller organic molecules.

Elements present in Biological Molecules:

Carbon is a central element to life because all biological molecules are built
on a carbon framework. Why?
Carbon is an element present in all biological molecules. Carbon is tetravalent and its atoms can join together
to form chains or ring structures, so biological molecules can be very large (macromolecules), often
constructed of repeating sub-units (monomers). Other elements always present are oxygen and hydrogen.
Nitrogen, Phosphorus and sulfur are sometimes present.

Monomers and Polymers:

Monomers:

• Subunits that serve as building blocks to form macromolecules are called as monomers e.g amino acid
is building block for protein
• Monomers are small molecules and Soluble in Water
Polymers:
• When Macromolecules are made of long chains of monomers held together by chemical bonds, they
are known as polymers.
• Poly means many
• Polymers are insoluble in water
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Classes of Biological Molecules (Macromolecules)

Four classes
 Carbohydrate
 Lipids
 Protein
 Nucleic Acids (DNA & RNA)

1. Carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a group of substances used as both energy sources and structural materials in organisms.
All carbohydrates contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
Groups of Carbohydrates

Monosaccharides (Simple Sugars) – Sugars with single carbon ring and are simple, soluble sugars e.g
Glucose C6H12O6 . Often present in the form of ring.

Fig. 1 Glucose molecule showing ring structure

Disaccharides: Sugars with two carbon rings in their molecule, formed from two monosaccharides e.g
Maltose and Sucrose.
Two molecules of glucose can be combined to form a molecule of maltose C12H22O11 (Figure 2)

Mono- and disaccharides are readily soluble in water and taste sweet.
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Polysaccharides – these are large molecules formed from many monosaccharides, not readily soluble in
water. Most Polysaccharides are not soluble in water and they do not taste sweet.
The major polysaccharides are starch and cellulose in plants, and glycogen in animals.
Properties and uses of starch:
 Hundreds of glucose molecules joined together to form long chains
 Starch is the major food storage molecule in plants
 Starch molecules are made and stored in Plastids
Example of Plastid is Chloroplast.
Properties and uses of Glycogen:
 many glucose molecules joined together to form glycogen
 Food storage substance in many animal cells (mostly liver and muscle cells)
Properties and uses of Cellulose:
 A polysaccharide and is the main part of plant cell walls.
 Consist of longer chains of glucose molecules
 Chain molecules are grouped together to form microscopic fibres
 Fibres are laid down in layers to form cell wall

 Fibres are very strong, so cell wall helps to maintain the shape of plant cell
2- Lipids
Fat is a solid form of a group of organic molecules called lipids. When lipids are liquids they are known
as Oils. Composing elements are Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen. Fat/lipids are insoluble in water. A
molecule of fat or oil is made up of three molecules of fatty acid combined with one molecule of
Glycerol
Drawn simply, fat molecules can be represented as in Figure 3.
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Properties and uses of Lipids

 Part of the cell membrane and the internal membrane of the cell (nuclear membrane)
 Source of energy when present as droplets of fat or oil in the cytoplasm
 Adipose tissue: Layer of cells underneath the skin in mammals. These cells become filled with large
drops of fat or oils. These stores can be used to release energy when needed. Adipose tissue helps to
insulates the body e.g. walrus lives in cold places often have thick layer of adipose tissue called as
Blubber.

 Many plants store oil in their seeds like peanut and coconut. The oil provides good store of energy for
germination.

3. Proteins:
Proteins are a group of large and complex polymer molecules and made up of long chains of simpler chemicals
called amino acids(monomers).
Composing elements: mainly carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and Nitrogen are present. Some proteins also
contain sulfur or phosphorus.
There are about 20 different amino acids in animal proteins, including alanine, leucine, valine, glutamine,
cysteine, glycine and lysine. A small protein molecule might be made up from a chain consisting of a hundred
or so amino acids, e.g. glycine–valine–valine–cysteine–leucine–glutamine–, etc. Each type of protein has its
amino acids arranged in a particular sequence.
The chain of amino acids in a protein takes up a particular shape as a result of cross-linkages. Cross- linkages
form between amino acids that are not neighbors, as shown in Figure 4. The shape of a protein molecule has a
very important effect on its reactions with substances.

For example, the shape of an enzyme molecule creates an active site, which has a complementary shape to
the substrate molecule on which it acts. This makes enzymes very specific in their action (they usually only
work on one substrate).
Antibodies are proteins produced by white blood cells called lymphocytes. Each antibody has a binding site,
which can lock onto pathogens such as bacteria. This destroys the pathogen directly or marks it so that it can
be detected by other white blood cells called phagocytes. Each pathogen has antigens on its surface that are a
particular shape, so specific antibodies with complementary shapes to the antigen are needed (shown in Fig.5)
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Figure 5: Common Feature of Enzyme & antibody.

Complementary shape for substrate /antigen

Denaturation of Protein Molecule:

When a protein is heated to temperatures over 50 °C, the cross-linkages in its molecules breakdown; the
protein molecules lose their shape and will not usually regain it even when cooled. The protein is said to have
been denatured. Because the shape of the molecules has been altered, the protein will have lost its original
properties.
Egg-white is a protein. When it is heated, its molecules change shape and the egg-white goes from a clear,
runny liquid to a white solid and cannot be changed back again. The egg-white protein, albumen, has been
denatured by heat.
Proteins form enzymes and many of the structures in the cell, so if they are denatured the enzymes and the
cell structures will stop working and the cell will die. Whole organisms may survive for a time above 50 °C
depending on the temperature, the period of exposure and the proportion of the cells that are damaged.

Functions of Proteins:
Structural Proteins: Proteins contribute to the structure of the cell, e.g. to the cell membrane, the
mitochondria, ribosomes and chromosomes.
Catalytic Proteins: all enzymes are proteins, catalysing many biochemical reactions in membranes,
mitochondria and in cytoplasm.

4. Nucleic Acids. There are two main types of Nucleic acids.

1. DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid)

2. RNA (Ribonucleic acid)

DNA: DNA is a hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Generally Soluble in water.
Composing elements: Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen and Phosphorus.

Structure of DNA:
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A DNA molecule is made up of long chains of nucleotides, formed into two strands. A nucleotide is a 5-carbon
sugar molecule joined to a phosphate group(–PO3) and an organic base (Figure 6). In DNA the sugar is
deoxyribose and the organic base is either adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C) or guanine (G).

Note: for exam purposes, it is only necessary to be able state the letters, not the names of these bases.
The nucleotides are joined by their phosphate groups to form a long chain, often thousands of nucleotides
long. The phosphate and sugar molecules are the same all the way down the chain, but the bases may be any
one of the four listed above (Figure 7).

Double Helix of DNA:

The DNA in a chromosome consists of two strands (chains of nucleotides) held together by chemical bonds
between the bases. The size of the molecules ensures that A (adenine) always pairs with T (thymine) and C
(cytosine) pairs with G (guanine). The double strand is twisted to form a helix (like a twisted rope ladder with
the base pairs representing the rungs).

Functions of DNA:
o Hereditary material
o Sequence of bases in DNA provides a code that is used to determine the kinds of proteins that
are made in our cells
o Sequence of bases determines your personal characteristics like hair color, blood group etc.

Summary of main Biological Molecules

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Other molecules essential for life: Include vitamins, minerals and water.

Vitamins: This is a category of substances which, in their chemical structure at least, have little in common.
Plants can make their own vitamins. Animals have to obtain many of their vitamins ready-made. Vitamins, or
substances derived from them, play a part in chemical reactions in cells – for example those which involve a
transfer of energy from one compound to another. If cells are not supplied with vitamins or the substances
needed to make them, the cell physiology is thrown out of order and the whole organism suffers. One
example of a vitamin is ascorbic acid (vitamin C).

Water: Most cells contain about 75% water and will die if their water content falls much below this. Water is
a good solvent and many substances move about the cells in a watery solution.
Importance of water for living organisms: Water molecules take part in a great many vital chemical reactions.
For example,
 in green plants, water combines with carbon dioxide to form sugar in the process of photosynthesis.
 In animals, water helps to break down and dissolve food molecules.
 Blood is made up of cells and a liquid called plasma. This plasma is 92% water and acts as a transport
medium in animals for many dissolved substances, such as carbon dioxide, urea, digested food and
hormones. Blood cells are carried around the body in the plasma.
 Water also acts as a transport medium in plants. Water passes up the plant from the roots to the
leaves in xylem vessels and carries with it dissolved mineral ions. Phloem vessels transport sugars and
amino acids in solution from the leaves to their places of use or storage.
 Water plays an important role in excretion in animals. It acts as a powerful solvent for excretory
materials, such as nitrogenous molecules like urea, as well as salts, spent hormones and drugs. The
water has a diluting effect, reducing the toxicity of the excretory materials.
 water has a high capacity for heat (high thermal capacity). This means that it can absorb a lot of heat
without its temperature rising to levels that damage the proteins in the cytoplasm. However, because
water freezes at 0 °C most cells are damaged if their temperature falls below this and ice crystals form
in the cytoplasm. (Oddly enough, rapid freezing of cells in liquid nitrogen at below –196 °C does not
harm them).
 Food Tests
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Nutrient Test Procedure Color of Positive Test Negative Test

Reagent
Starch Iodine Test Collect the food sample (liquid) in a test yellow Blue Black yellow brown
tube. brown
Add few drops of iodine solution
Reducing Benedict’s Test Collect the food sample (liquid) in a test Blue The color change Blue
Sugar tube. depends on the
concentration of sugar
Add few drops of Benedict’s solution. in the sample.
Place the test tube in a boiling water bath. Blue color changes to
green yellow
Orange brick red.

Brick red color shows

high concentration of
Reducing sugar.
Protein Biuret Test Collect the food sample (liquid) in a test Blue Purple/Mauve/Lilac Blue
tube.
Add equal amounts of copper sulphate and
sodium hydroxide solutions.
Or add small amount of Biuret reagent.
Fat Emulsion Test Collect the food sample (liquid) in a test -------- Cloudy white Clear
tube
Add small amount of ethanol and shake
well
Add small amount of water to the solution
Vitamin C Vitamin C test Collect the food sample (liquid) in a plastic Blue Colorless Blue
using DCPIP syringe.
Add food sample drop by drop to small
amount of DCPIP solution (a blue dye) in a
test tube.

Food Tests