i.

Introduction to Biological
Molecules/Biomolecules
• Brief description of :
- Carbohydrates
- Proteins
- Lipids
- Nucleic Acids
Introduction to Biomolecules…

• All living things are made up of four classes of

large biological molecules:

• Carbohydrates
• Lipids
• Protein
• Nucleic Acids

• Macromolecules are large molecules composed

of thousands of covalently bonded atoms

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Macromolecules….

• Macromolecules are polymers, built from

monomers
• A polymer is a long molecule consisting of many
similar building blocks
• These small building-block molecules are called
monomers
• Three of the four classes of biomolecules are polymers
– Carbohydrates
– Proteins
– Nucleic acids

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The synthesis and breakdown of polymers

• A dehydration reaction occurs

when two monomers bond
together through the loss of a
water molecule

• Polymers are disassembled to

monomers by hydrolysis, a
reaction that the reverse of the
dehydration reaction

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Dehydration Synthesis

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 Sugars: Disaccharides
• A disaccharide is formed when a dehydration
reaction joins two monosaccharides

• This covalent bond is called a glycosidic linkage

Hydrolysis

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Synthesizing Maltose & Sucrose
Carbohydrates
• Cabohydrate biomolecules consisting of carbon (C),
hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms
• Carbohydrates are formed from the building blocks
or monomers of simple sugars, such as glucose.
• These monomers can be linked to form larger
carbohydrate polymers, which are known as
polysaccharides or complex carbohydrates.
• Monosaccharide monomers are linked together by
condensation reactions to form disaccharides and
polysaccharide polymers.
Monosaccharides
• Monosaccharides have
molecular formulas that are
usually multiples of CH2O

• Glucose (C6H12O6) is the

most common
monosaccharide

• Monosaccharides are
classified by
• The location of the
carbonyl group
• The number of carbons
in the carbon skeleton
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 Four Complex Carbohydrates
Four polysaccharides are critical in the living world

1. Starch is the nutrient storage form of carbohydrates in

plants.
2. Glycogen is the nutrient storage form of carbohydrates
in animals.
3. Cellulose is a rigid, structural carbohydrate found in the
cells walls of many organisms.
4. Chitin is a tough carbohydrate that forms the external
skeleton of arthropods.
Complex Carbohydrates….
(a) Potato (b) Liver (c) Algae (d) Tick

Starch Glycogen Cellulose Chitin

Figure 3.6
Proteins
Proteins
• Proteins are an extremely diverse group of
biological molecules composed of the monomers
called amino acids.
Proteins
• Sequences of amino acids are strung together to
produce polypeptide chains, which then fold up
into working proteins.

• Important groups of proteins include enzymes,

which hasten chemical reactions, and structural
proteins, which make up such structures as hair.
Types of Protein

Table 3.3
Levels of Protein Structure
• The primary structure of a protein is its amino acid
sequence; this sequence determines a protein’s
secondary structure—the form a protein assumes
after having folded up.
 Proteins: amino acid monomers

The basic structure of an amino acid monomer

HO NH2
H
O R

The difference between amino acids is the R group

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Beginnings of a Protein
The linkage of several amino acids . . .

ala gln ile

ala gln ile

A typical protein would

consist of hundreds of
. . . produces a polypeptide chain like this: amino acids

Figure 3.18
Levels of Protein Structure
• The larger-scale three-dimensional shape that a
protein assumes is its tertiary structure, and the
way two or more polypeptide chains come together
to form a protein results in that protein’s
quaternary structure.

• The activities of proteins are determined by their

final folded shapes.
Levels of Protein Structure
Four Levels of Structure In Proteins

(a) Primary structure

The primary structure of any
protein is simply its sequence
of amino acids. This sequence amino acid sequence
determines everything else
about the protein’s final shape.

(b) Secondary structure

Structural motifs, such as
the corkscrew-like alpha
helix, beta pleated sheets, alpha helix
and the less organized
“random coils” are parts random coil
beta pleated sheet
of many polypeptide
chains, forming their
secondary structure.
(c) Tertiary structure
These motifs may persist
through a set of larger-scale
turns that make up the
tertiary structure of the folded polypeptide
molecule chain

(d) Quaternary structure

Several polypeptide chains two or more
may be linked together in a polypeptide chains
given protein, in this case
hemoglobin, with their
configuration forming its
quaternary structure.

Figure 3.20
Lipoproteins
• Lipoproteins are biological molecules that are
combinations of lipids and proteins.
• High-density and low-density lipoproteins (HDLs
and LDLs, respectively), which transport cholesterol
in human beings, are important determinants of
human heart disease.
Glycoproteins
• Glycoproteins are combinations of carbohydrates
and proteins.
• The signal-receiving receptors found on cell
surfaces often are glycoproteins.
Nucleic Acids
Nucleic Acids
• Nucleic acids are polymers
composed of nucleotides.
 Thymine (T)

The monomers:

Adenine (A)
Cytosine (C)

Guanine (G)

Phosphate-
Sugar (backbone) of
DNA

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Phosphate-sugar
backbone holds the
DNA macromolecule
together

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One strand unwinds to
duplicate its complement
via a polymerization of the
monomers
C, G, A and T

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Nucleotides
• The nucleic acid DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is
composed of nucleotides that contain a sugar
(deoxyribose), a phosphate group, and one of four
nitrogen-containing bases.
Nucleotides
(a) Nucleotides are the building blocks of DNA.
Nucleotide nitrogenous
DNA consists of two base
strands of nucleotides sugar
linked by hydrogen (deoxyribose)
bonds

phosphate
group

(b) A computer-generated
model of DNA

The outer
“rails” of the
double helix
are composed
of sugar and The rungs
phosphate consist of
components of bases
the molecule hydrogen-
bonded
together

DNA
double helix

Figure 3.21
Nucleic Acids
• DNA is a repository of genetic information.
• The sequence of its bases encodes the information
for the production of the huge array of proteins
produced by living things.
Nucleic Acids
• A second nucleic acid is RNA (ribonucleic acid),
which transports the information encoded in DNA
to the sites of protein synthesis—structures called
ribosomes—and which helps make up the structure
of ribosomes.
Biological Molecules

Table 3.4
Lipids
• All lipids is that they do not readily dissolve in
water.
• Lipids do not possess the monomers-to-polymers
structure seen in other biological molecules; no
one structural element is common to all lipids.
• Among the most important lipids are the
triglycerides, composed of a glyceride and three
fatty acids.
• Most of the fats that human beings consume are
triglycerides
 The Triglyceride Tristearin

glycerol
fatty acids

Figure 3.9
Steroids
• Another important variety of lipids is the steroids,
all of which have a core of four carbon rings.
• Examples include cholesterol and such hormones
as testosterone and estrogen.
Steroids
(a) Four-ring steroid structure

(b) Side chains make each steroid unique

testosterone

estrogen cholesterol

Figure 3.12
Phospholipids
• A third class of lipids is the phospholipids, each of
which is composed of two fatty acids, glycerol, and
a phosphate group.
• The material forming the outer membrane of cells
is largely composed of phospholipids.
Phospholipids
(a) Phospholipid structure
—

variable phosphate
group group

polar head nonpolar tails

(b) Phospholipid orientation

“like attracts like”

phospholipids nonpolar hydrophobic
tails (fatty acids)
exposed to oil
oil (nonpolar)

polar hydrophilic
water (polar) heads exposed to
water
Figure 3.14
A Single Phospholipid Molecule
Waxes
• A fourth class of lipids is the waxes, each of which
is composed of a single fatty acid linked to a long-
chain alcohol.
• Waxes have an important “sealing” function in the
living world.
• Almost all plant surfaces exposed to air, for
example, have a protective covering made largely
of wax.
Waxes

Figure 3.15
 Biopolymers

Nucleic acid polymers (DNA, RNA)

Amino acids polymers (Proteins)

Sugar polymers (Carbohydrates)

Genetic information for the cell: DNA

Structural strength and catalysis: Proteins

Energy source: Carbohydrates

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