BIO F111 General Biology

On the mountaintop, for you, O Hero, await precious treasures,

Walk on, let not your energy be squandered over momentary pleasures.

Chamber Consultation Hour

(Pankaj Kumar Sharma)
Chamber: 3222-P

Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays, 4:30 5:30 PM

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

PPT Slides for Chapter 1 uploaded on:

http://nalanda.bits-pilani.ac.in/

Login as a guest user till your get your user id and

password.

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter

3
The Molecules of Life

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Objectives: To learn
How (milk) lactose intolerance can be treated?

Why is it difficult for humans to digest cellulose?

Puraani jeans aur guitar3 How is the jeans made

puraani by textile companies?

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Giant Molecules from Smaller Building Blocks

Organic compounds are carbon-based.
Macromolecules are polymers.
Polymers are made by stringing together many
smaller molecules called monomers.
A dehydration reaction
links two monomers together and
removes a molecule of water.

Hydrolysis does the opposite.

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 3.4-1

OH

Monomer

Short polymer
Dehydration
reaction

H2O

Longer polymer
(a) Building a polymer chain

Figure 3.4-2

H2O

Hydrolysis
OH

(b) Breaking a polymer chain

Large Biological Molecules (Macromolecules)

There are four categories of large biological
molecules found in all living creatures:
1. carbohydrates,
2. lipids,
3. proteins, and
4. nucleic acids.

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Carbohydrates
Contain C, H, O
Empirical formula is: CnH2nOn
Simple sugars are known as monosaccharides
Examples include glucose, galactose, fructose
Out of the above three, fructose (fruit sugar) is the
sweetest
2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 3.5

Glucose
C6H12O6

Fructose
C6H12O6

Isomers
(same formula, different arrangements)

Figure 3.6

In water, many monosaccharides form rings.

(a) Linear and ring structures

(b) Abbreviated ring

structure

Figure 3.8

processed to extract
Starch
broken down into
Glucose
converted via enzyme to sweeter
Fructose
added to foods as
high-fructose corn syrup

Functions of Carbohydrates ?

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Functions of Carbohydrates
Provide energy
Are important components of Nucleic acids
(DNA/RNA)
Component of cell membranes
Maintain cell shape/structure (e.g. Cellulose of
plant cell walls)
2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 3.0-2

Chapter Thread: Lactose Intolerance

Disaccharides
Linked by glycosidic bonds b/w monosaccharides
Examples:
Sucrose = Glucose + Fructose
Maltose = Glucose + Glucose
Milk Lactose = Glucose + Galactose
2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 3.7

OH

Galactose

Glucose

H2O

Lactose

 How can lactose intolerance be treated?

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Monosaccharides (Simple sugars)

Polysaccharides (Complex sugars)
Common polysaccharides derived from
glucose are: plant starch (linear amylose &
branched amylopectin); plant cellulose
(linear); animal glycogen (branched)

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Polysaccharides
Cellulose
is the most abundant organic compound on Earth,
forms cable-like fibrils in the walls that enclose plant
cells, and
cannot be broken by any enzyme produced by
animals.

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Spot the difference!

Biostoning of jeans
using the enzyme
cellulase!

Levi Strauss

Cellulase enzyme is
used to
biostone jeans
to give
desired colour/texture
in controlled manner.
The enzyme breaks
down cellulose, releasing
indigo dye in the process.

Next objectives for today

Why do animals living in cold temperatures
have higher proportions of PUFA (Poly
Unsaturated Fatty Acids) in their body lipids?
How do fat deposits serve the birds on long
distance flights?
Why do some athletes take steroids before the
big game?
2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Lipids (Fats)
Large and nonpolar in general
Do not dissolve in water
No. of oxygen atoms lesser than in sugars
Three main types of lipids:
True fats (e.g., butter)
Phospholipids (membrane components)
Steroids (most hormones)

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

True (Neutral) Fats

Provide energy & insulation
Can be stored in a relatively small space
The building blocks of fats are:
A glycerol molecule
Three fatty acids

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 3.11

HO

Fatty acid
H2O

Glycerol
(a) A dehydration reaction linking a fatty acid to glycerol

(b) A fat molecule with a glycerol head and three

energy-rich hydrocarbon fatty acid tails

 Saturated fats are usually solid at room

temperature.
e.g. Most animal fat

Unsaturated fatty acids have one or more

double bonds between carbons.
e.g. Most plant and fish fats

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

How do fat deposits serve the birds

on long distance flights?

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 There is more than twice as much energy in a

gram of fat as in a gram of sugar.
Hydrogenation of vegetable oils produces
saturated fatty acids, sometimes creating
unhealthy trans fats.
Trans fatty acids may be produced in the
process of deep frying.

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 3.12

TYPES OF FATS
Saturated Fats

Unsaturated Fats

Margarine

Plant oils

Trans fats

Omega-3 fats

Phospholipids
Amphipathic in nature.
Important component
of cell membranes.

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Steroids
Structure contains interlocking rings of
carbon.
Component of membranes (e.g. cholesterol).
Component of hormones (e.g. Testosterone,
estrogen).

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 3.13

Cholesterol

Testosterone

can be converted
by the body to

A type of estrogen

Presence of cholesterol stabilizes

the animal cell membrane.

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Synthetic anabolic
steroids, prescribed
for cancer/AIDS,
may be abused by
athletes to build
quick muscles.

Alex Rodriguez

Mark McGwire

Floyd Landis

Ben Johnson

Thought Question:
Why do animals living in cold temperatures
have higher proportions of PUFA in their
body lipids?

BIO F111

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Changing roles of fat

Objectives
How could Mr. V.K. Bansal (Bansal Classes) help
change the face of Kota (Rajasthan)?

How could Spiderman stop a fast speeding train in

the climax of the movie Spiderman-2?

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Bansal Sir says:

$excess vision can be a detriment. Because if
you keep looking too far ahead, it is unlikely that
you will be able to tread your present path
satisfactorily, let alone relish the journey. I therefore
have always restricted my visualizing to a bare
minimum. This way, I am freed of needless bother
and am able to focus completely on the task at
hand.

Figure 3.15

MAJOR TYPES OF PROTEINS

Structural Proteins
(provide support)

Storage Proteins
(provide amino
acids for growth)

Contractile
Proteins
(help movement)

Transport Proteins
(help transport
substances)

Enzymes
(help chemical
reactions)

The Monomers of Proteins: Amino Acids

All proteins are made by stringing together a
common set of 20 kinds of amino acids.
Every amino acid consists of a central carbon
atom bonded to four covalent partners.

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

The Monomers of Proteins: Amino Acids

Three of those attachment groups are common to
all amino acids:
1. a carboxyl group (COOH),
2. an amino group (NH2), and
3. a hydrogen atom.

The variable component of amino acids

is called the side chain and
is attached to the fourth bond of the central carbon.

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 3.16-1

Amino
group

Carboxyl
group

Side
chain
(a) The general structure of an amino acid

Figure 3.16-2

Hydrophobic
side chain

Hydrophilic
side chain
Leucine

Serine

(b) Examples of amino acids with hydrophobic and hydrophilic

side chains

Structure/Function: Protein Shape

Cells link amino acids together by dehydration
reactions,
forming peptide bonds, and
creating long chains of amino acids called
polypeptides.

A functional protein is one or more polypeptide

chains precisely twisted, folded, and coiled into a
molecule of unique shape.

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 3.17-s2

Carboxyl
group

Amino
group

OH

Side
chain

Side
chain

Amino acid

Amino acid

Dehydration reaction
H2O

Side
chain

Side
chain

Peptide bond

Structure/Function: Protein Shape

How is it possible to make the huge variety of
proteins found in your body from just 20 kinds of
amino acids?
Like the English alphabet used to make different
words by varying the sequent of just 26 letters,
proteins use 20 different letters (amino acids) to
create polypeptides hundreds or thousands of
amino acids in length.

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Structure/Function: Protein Shape

The amino acid sequence of each polypeptide
determines the three-dimensional structure of the
protein.
A proteins three-dimensional structure enables
the molecule to carry out its specific function.

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 3.18

One amino acid

(alanine)

Here you can see how the polypeptide

folds into a compact shape.

129
The amino acid sequence of lysozyme
This model allows you to see the details
of the proteins structure.

Fill in the blank

The enormous diversity of protein molecules is
mostly due to the diversity of _________ on the
amino acids.

 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Forces stabilizing tertiary structure of proteins

Structure determines function3

(e.g. Hemoglobin: 22)

Structure/Function: Protein Shape

Misfolded proteins are associated with many
diseases, including some severe nervous system
disorders.
The diseases shown in Figure 3.20 are all caused
by prions, misfolded versions of normal brain
proteins.

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 3.20

Normal
protein
Prion

Clusters
of prions

Skull
Brain

Prion
converts
normal
proteins

Bovine spongiform
encephalopathy
(BSE)

Kuru

Prion
proteins
clump
together

Fatal weight loss in

deer, elk, and moose

Structure/Function: Protein Shape

A proteins shape is sensitive to the environment.
An unfavorable change in temperature, pH, or
some other factor can cause a protein to unravel.

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Denaturation

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.

Marvel of engineering!
According to Science News reporter Richard
Lipkin, in a January 21, 1995 article - spider silk
is so strong and resilient that on the human
scale, a web resembling a fishing net could catch
a passenger plane in flight!

Hey Spiderman, stop the train!

Video
Dr. Shibashish Chowdhury talking about the protein
folding problem

2016 Pearson Education, Inc.