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| A giant molecule formed by the joining of smaller molecules, usually by a dehydration reaction. Polysaccharides, proteins, and nucleic acids are macromolecules. |
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| A long molecule consisting of many similar or identical monomers linked together by covalent bonds. |
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| The subunit that serves as the building block of a polymer. |
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| A macromolecule serving as a catalyst, a chemical agent that increases the rate of a reaction without being consumed by the reaction. Most enzymes are proteins. |
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| A chemical reaction in which two molecules become covalently bonded to each other with the removal of a water molecule. |
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| A chemical reaction that breaks bonds between two molecules by the addition of a water molecule; functions in disassembly of polymers to monomers. |
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| A sugar (monosaccharide) or one of its dimers (disaccharides) or polymers (polysaccharides). |
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| The simplest carbohydrate, active alone or serving as a monomer for disaccharides and polysaccharides. Also known as simnple sugars, monosaccharides have molecular formulas that are generally some multiple of CH2O. |
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| A double sugar, consisting of two monosaccharides joined by a glycosidic linkage formed by a dehydratioon reaction. |
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| A covalent bond formed between two monosaccharides by a dehydration reaction. |
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| A polymer of many monosaccharides, formed by dehydration reactions. |
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| A storage polysaccharide in plants, consisting entirely of glucose monomers joined by glycosidic linkages. |
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| An extensively branched glucose storage polysaccharide found in the liver and muscle of animals; the animal equivalent of starch. |
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| A structural polysachharide of plant cell walls, consisting of glucose monomers joined by beta glycosidic linkages. |
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| A structural polysaccharide, consisting of amino sugar monomers, found mainly in many fungal cell walls and in the exoskeletons of all arthropods. |
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| Any of a group of large biological molecules, including fats, phospolipids, and steroids, that mix poorly, if at all, with water. |
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| A lipid consisting of three fatty acids linked to one glycerol molecule; also called a triaclyglycerol or triglyceride. |
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| A carboxylic acid with a long carbon chain. Fatty acids vary in length and in the number and location of double bonds. |
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| A fatty acid in which all carbons in the hydrocarbon tail are connected by single bonds, thus maximizing the amount of hydrogen atoms that are attached to the carbon skeleton. |
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| A fatty acid that has one or more double bonds between carbons in the hydrocarbon tail. Such bonding reduces the number of hydrogen atoms attached to the carbon skeleton. |
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| An unsaturated fat, formed artificially during hydrogenation of oils, containing one or more trans double bonds. |
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| A lipid made up of glycerol joined to two fatty acids and a phosphate group. The hydrocarbon chains of the fatty acids act as nonpolar, hydrophobic tails, while the rest of the molecule acts as a polar, hydrophilic head. Phospholipids form bilayers that function as biological membranes. |
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| A type of lipid characterized by a carbon skeleton consisting of four fused rings with various chemical groups attached. |
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| A steroid that forms an essential component of animal cell membranes and acts as a precursor molecule for the synthesis of other biologically important steroids, such as many horomones. |
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| A chemical agent that selectively increases the rate of a reaction without being consumed by the reaction. |
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| A polymer of many amino acids linked together by peptide bonds. |
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| A biologically functioning molecule consisting of one or more polypeptides folded and coiled into a specific three-dimensional structure. |
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| An organic molecule possessing both a carboxyl and an amino group. Amino acids serve as the monomers of polypeptides. |
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| The covalent bond between the carboxyl group on one amino acid and the amino group on another, formed by a dehydration reaction. |
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| The level of protein structure referring to the specific linear sequence of amino acids. |
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| Regions of repetetive coiling or folding of the polypeptide backbone of a protein due to hydrogen bonding between constituents of the backbone (not the side chains). |
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| A delicate coil held together by hydrogen bonding between every fourth amino acid. |
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| Two or more strands of the polypeptide chain lying side by side (called beta strands) are connected by hydrogen bonds betweens parts of the two parallel polypeptide backbones. |
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| The overall shape of a protein molecule due to interactions of amino acid side chains, including hydrophobic interactions, ionic bonds, hydrogen bonds, and disulfide bridges. |
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| A type of weak chemical interaction caused when molecules that do not mix with water coalesce to exclude water. |
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| A strong covalent bond formed when the sulfur of one cysteine monomer bonds to the sulfur of another cysteine monomer. |
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| The particular shape of a complex, aggregate protein, defined by the characteristic three-dimensional arrangement of its constitutent subunits, each a polypeptide. |
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| A glycoprotein in the extracellular matrix of animal cells that forms strong fibers, found extensively in connective tissue and bone; the most abundant protein in the animla kingdom. |
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| A recessively inherited human blood disorder in which a single nucleotide change in the '-globin gene causes hemoglobin to aggregate, changing red blood cell shape and causing multiple symptoms in afflicted individuals. |
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| In proteins, a process in which a protein loses its native shape due to the disruption of weak chemical bonds and interactions, thereby becoming biologically inactive. |
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| A protein complex that assists in the proper folding of other proteins. |
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| A technique used to study the three-dimensional structure of molecules. It depends on the diffraction of an X-ray beam by the individual atoms of a crystallized molecule. |
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| A discrete unit of hereditary information consisting of a specific nucleotide sequence in DNA (or RNA, in some viruses). |
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| A polymer (polynucleotide) consisting of many nucleotide monomers; serves as a blueprint for proteins, and, through the actions of proteins, for all cellular activities. The two types are DNA and RNA. |
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| Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) |
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Definition
| A nucleic acid molecule, usually a double-stranded helix, in which each polynucleotide strand consists of nucleotide monomers with a deoxyribose sugar and the nitrogenous bases adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T); capable of being replicated annd determining the inherited structure of a cell's proteins. |
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Definition
| A type of nucleic acid consisting of a polynucleotide made of nucleotide monomers with a ribose sugar and the nitrogenous bases adenine (A), cystosine (C), guanine (G), and uracil (U); usually single-stranded; functions in protein synthesis, gene regulation, and as the genome of some viruses. |
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| A polymer consisting of many nucleotide monomers in a chain. The nucleotides can be those of DNA or RNA. |
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| The building block of a nucleic acid, consisting of a five-carbon sugar covalently bonded to a nitrogenous base and one or more phosphate groups. |
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| One of two types of nitrogenous bases found in nucleotides, characterized by a six-membered ring. Cytosine (C), thymine (T), and uracil (U) are pyrimidines. |
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| One of two types of nitrogenous bases found in nucleotides, characterized by a six-membered ring fused to a five-membered ring. Adenine (A) and guanine (G) are purines. |
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| The sugar component of DNA nucleotides, having one fewer hydroxyl group than ribose, the sugar component of RNA nucleotides. |
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| The sugar component of RNA nucleotides. |
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| The native form of DNA, referring to its two adjacent antiparallel polynucleotides strands wound around an imaginary axis into a spiral shape. |
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| Referring to the arrangement of the sugar-phosphate backbones in a DNA double helix (they run in opposite 5' S 3' directions). |
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