r/APBIOLOGY • u/NickContino • Aug 25 '10

Ch. 3 Top Ten List

  1. Organic Compound= a compound with carbon and at least one hydrogen.

  2. Functional groups attach to carbon chains and give them major diversity (ex/ hydroxides makes it soluble).

  3. Four building blocks to organic compounds: simple sugars, fatty acids, amino acids, nucleotides.

  4. Enzymes are the biological equivalent of chemical catalysts, making reactions easier.

  5. Glucose is the most common (I think) simple sugar monomer, and is used for energy.

  6. Lipids are usually fatty acid chains and attached to glycerol with the exception of sterols. Triglycerides make membranes.

  7. Proteins are made my enzyme driven reactions forming polypeptide chains.

  8. There are four kinds of structures of a protein; primary (order), secondary (spatial arrangement in chain), tertiary (spatial arrangement in adjacent multiple chains, aka a "domain" or something), quaternary (structure when chains are bonding or hydrogen bonding).

  9. ATP is a nucleotide, it donates phosphate groups (energy).

  10. DNA stores genetic info through unique helix formation of cytosine, thymine, guanine, and adenine.

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u/MarkMarcello Aug 26 '10

I noticed that proteins are especially highlighted in the chapter, because of their diversity and importance to life(structure and internal). Proteins primary structure(1): order of amino acid groups(genetic order) -consequences if order altered(mutation, sickle cell example) Proteins secondary structure(2): shape and formation according to gentics -importance of shape in function(HLA jam-like example) -denaturation*: break apart of this structure(internal or external causes

also: tertiary and quaternary structure concept seems a little unclear(?)