The Molecular and Biochemical

Basis of an Organism

Unit-2
Dr. Ch. Vinod
Faculty of Biological Sciences
KIIT University
 Carbon is essential to life!!
• All living things are composed mostly of carbon.
• All life on Earth is carbon based.
• There are four basic types of organic (carbon
based) molecules.
• Carbohydrates
• Lipids
• Nucleic Acids
• Proteins
 Carbohydrates
• Produced by plants during photosynthesis
• Provide energy for cells
• Carbohydrates include sugars and starches.
• Sugars - Monosaccharides, disaccharides,
polysaccharides
• They supply carbon for the synthesis of cell
• components
• They serve as a form of stored chemical
energy
• They form part of the structures of some cells
and tissues
 Classification of Carbohydrates
• Simple carbohydrates
• Monosaccharide
• Disaccharide
• Perceived as sweeter than complex carbohydrates
• Mixes with saliva and reacts with taste buds
• Oligosaccharides
• Complex carbohydrates
• Polysaccharides
Monosaccharides
• Three nutritionally important • Fructose
monosaccharides • Sweetest of natural sugars
• Glucose • Found abundantly in fruits
• Fructose • Part of high-fructose corn syrup
• Galactose
• Glucose • Galactose
• Most abundant monosaccharide in • Commonly occurs as part of
the body dissaccharide lactose
• Main source of energy for the
brain and red blood cells
• Part of every disaccharide
• Only monosaccharide in starches
The Structural Differences between Glucose, Galactose, and Fructose
Disaccharides
• Sucrose
• Most common
• Lactose
• Maltose
• Least common
• Formed from
digestion of
starches
Oligosaccharides
Similar in length to simple
carbohydrates
• Similar in makeup to polysaccharides
• Humans lack the enzymes necessary
to digest them
• Intestinal microflora digest and
ferment them
• Cause bloating, discomfort, and
flatulence
• Food sources
• Legumes, beans, cabbage, brussels
sprouts, broccoli
 Polysaccharides
Starch • 80%-90% of the starch
Plants store glucose in chains of starch • Branched chains
• Easier to digest
Amylose: Straight chain of glucose molecules
connected by α(1→4) glycosidic linkages. 10-20% Glycogen
of the starch • Storage form of glucose in animals
• Long, branched chains of glucose
• More resistant to digestion
• Resistant starch
• Stored in liver and muscle
• May improve health of digestive tract • Liver glycogen response to blood
• May improve glucose tolerance glucose (BG) levels
• May stimulate growth of beneficial intestinal
bacteria
BG glycogen breakdown BG
Amylopectin: connected by α(1→4) glycosidic
linkages, with α(1→6) branches every 24 to 30 • Muscle glycogen can be broken down
glucose units along the chain. for energy for the muscle
Fiber
• Non-digestible polysaccharides Benefits of Fiber
• Provides no energy Soluble fibers
• Most plant foods contain both soluble • Slow gastric emptying and may delay
and insoluble fibers
absorption of some nutrients
Classification: Soluble • Helps reduce serum cholesterol
• Pectins, beta-glucan, some gums,
mucilage • Improve appetite control
• Easily fermented by intestinal • Normalize blood glucose levels
bacteria • May help protect against colon cancer
• Carbon dioxide, methane, some fatty
acids
Insoluble Insoluble fibers
• Cellulose, lignin, some • Relieves constipation
hemicelluloses
• Not easily fermented
The Comparison of Starch and Glycogen Molecules
 Absorption of Carbohydrates
Once digested to monosaccharides Absorbed
through the intestinal cell mucosa
Transported to the liver via the portal vein
Metabolic needs direct fate of the monosaccharides

Galactose and fructose

Used by the liver for energy
Converted to glucose

Glucose
Used for energy
Converted to glycogen through glycogenesis
Converted to glycerol and fatty acids for storage in adipocytes
 Lipids
• Composed of C, H, O
• Lipids are insoluble in water.
• Lipids store energy.
• Building Blocks - Fatty acids, glycerol

Saturated Fat: Solid at room temperature

• All C bonded to H
Unsaturated Fat: C=C double bonds in the fatty acids
• No C=C double bonds
• plant & fish fats
• long, straight chain
• vegetable oils
• most animal fats
• liquid at room temperature
• solid at room temp.
• Liquid at room temperature
• contributes to cardiovascular disease
Building Fats
hydroxyl carboxyl

Triacylglycerol
3 fatty acids linked to
glycerol
ester linkage =
between OH & COOH
Phospholipids – similar to fat molecules, however Steroids – complex molecules that
contains only two fatty acid chains. In the position of the
include four connected carbon rings
third is a portion containing a phosphate group
Ex: Cholesterol, estrogen, testosterone
• “head” – phosphate portion(water soluble, hydrophilic)
• “tail” – fatty acid portion (hydrophobic)
• Important in cellular structures
 STEROLS WAX
Important part of:
Waxes are lpids that consist of long alkyl chains.
1. Sex hormones – testosterone Natural waxes may contain unsaturated bonds and
2. Vitamin D include various functional groups such as fatty
acids, primary and secondary alcohols, ketones,
3. Bile (aids fat digestion)
aldehydes and fatty acid esters, and aromatic
4. Adrenal hormones - cortisol compounds.

5. Cholesterol – in foods and made by the liver; Birds/insects - water repellant feathers/exoskeletons
dietary sources include egg yolks, liver, Leaves/fruit - minimize water evaporation
meats, dairy products
Humans - to plug up ears
 The Amino Acids

- Cα is at the heart of the amino

acid
- Cα, C N and O are called
backbone atoms
- R can be any of the 20 side chains
The side chains, R, determine the differences in the structural and chemical properties of
the 20 ‘natural’ amino acids.

The 20 amino acids can, for example, be classified as follows:

Hydrophobic
Aliphatic Ala, Leu, Ile, Val
Aromatic Phe, Tyr, Trp, (His)

Hydrophilic
Polar Asn, Gln
Alcoholic Ser, Thr, (Tyr)
Charged Arg, Lys, Asp, Glu, (His)

Inbetween:
Sulfur-containing Met, Cys
Special Gly (no R), Pro (cyclic)
 Polypeptides and Proteins
• In 1902, Emil Fischer
proposed that proteins are
▫ peptide: Peptides are amino acid polymers containing 2–50
long chains of amino acids individual units
joined by peptide bonds
• Peptide bond: The ▫ dipeptide: a molecule containing two amino acids joined by a
special name given to the peptide bond
amide bond between the
α-carboxyl group of one ▫ tripeptide: a molecule containing three amino acids joined by
amino acid and the peptide bonds
α-amino group of another
▫ polypeptide: a macromolecule containing many amino acids
joined by peptide bonds

▫ protein: Peptides with >50 units are called proteins

21
Alpha Helix
 Beta-Sheets

• Beta-sheets
formed from
multiple
side-by-side
beta-strands.
• Can be in parallel or
anti-parallel
configuration
• Anti-parallel
beta-sheets more
stable
Bonds holding the tertiary structure of
Proteins
Protein Function
• Catalysis – enzymes
• Structural – keratin
• Transport – hemoglobin
• Trans-membrane transport – Na+/K+ ATPases
• Toxins – rattle snake venom, ricin
• Contractile function – actin, myosin
• Hormones – insulin
• Storage Proteins – seeds and eggs
• Defensive proteins – antibodies
 Protein Classification
• One polypeptide chain - monomeric protein
• More than one - multimeric protein
Homomultimer – all one kind of chain
Heteromultimer - two or more different chains

(e.g. Hemoglobin is a heterotetramer. It has two alpha

chains and two beta chains).
 Nucleic Acids
• Nucleic Acids – store information
They contain the genetic instructions
for all living things.
Types of nucleic acids
• RNA
• DNA
Information Transfer in Cells
Transcription:
Information encoded in a DNA
molecule is transcribed via
synthesis of an RNA molecule

Translation:
The sequence of the RNA
molecule is "read" and is
translated into the sequence of
amino acids in a protein.
Nitrogenous Bases

• Purines
• Adenine (DNA, RNA)
• Guanine (DNA, RNA)

• Pyrimidines
• Cytosine (DNA, RNA)
• Uracil (RNA)
• Thymine (DNA)
Nucleic Acid
Structure
“Base Pairing”
Purine always pairs with
Pyrimidine
In a DNA
A is always paired with T
G is always paired with C
In an RNA A is paired with U

• The bases are joined by hydrogen

bonds, individually weak but
collectively strong.
 DNA vs RNA
DNA RNA
•Deoxy-Ribose sugar •Ribose Sugar
•A = T •A=U
•More Stable •Less stable
•Exists mostly as Double
stranded •Exists Mostly as Single
stranded
•Located in Nucleus,
Mitochondria and •Located throughout the cell
Chloroplast
Thank You