Chapter 4
BIOLOGICAL MOLECULES
(BIOMOLECULES)
IGCSE
BIOLOGY 0610
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2
The chemicals of life
or
The Building blocks of Life
All living organisms are made up of chemical substances.
Most common – hydrogen, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen.
Reactions between these substances keep the cytoplasm
(and the organism) alive. They are living processes.
Carbon – Organic molecule
The chemical substances described in the next series
of slides are carbohydrates, proteins and lipids, but there
are hundreds of others.
Learning objective:
State that large molecules are made from
smaller molecules
Molecules......
• Macromolecule ?
Giant molecule
• Polymer ?
macromolecule made up of many repeating
similar or identical subunits
• Repeating similar or identical subunits?
monomer
Monomers join together to form polymer
Polymers
O - a monomer
O-O - 2 monomers form dimer
O-O-O - 3 monomers form trimer
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
several monomers join to form a polymer
‘poly’ means many
Macromolecules(polymers) in living
organisms
• starch, glycogen and cellulose
• proteins
• fats and oils
Macromolecules(polymers) in living
organisms
• starch, glycogen and cellulose from glucose
• proteins from amino acids
• fats and oils from fatty acids and glycerol
CARBOHYDRATES
LIPIDS
PROTEINS
Carbohydrate – Classification
Starch 🡪🡪 sucrose 🡪🡪 glucose
Glucose is the common monosaccharide
Familiar carbohydrates are sugar and starch- (polysaccharide)
Glucose, fructose, maltose and sucrose are sugars
Polysaccharide
• Polymer of monosaccharides🡪 1000s of
monosaccharides
• Monosa..🡪 Disacch..🡪 Polysac...
• Two types:
– structural- cellulose
– storage – starch (plants), glycogen(animals)
all are polymer of glucose
Storage polysaccharide
• STARCH (plants)
Storage form of glucose in plants
Found in chloroplast and storage organs-
potato, seeds of cereals
• GLYCOGEN (animals)
• storage form of glucose in animals
Structural polysaccharide
CELLULOSE
• Most abundant organic molecule on the
planet earth......?
• Structural polysaccharide
Functions
• Very high tensile strength - bonds between each cellulose
molecule are very strong, which makes cellulose very
hard to break down
• gives rigidity to the cells
• Without cell wall, cell would burst
• help withstand pressure, gives support, shape
• Cellulose fibres are freely permeable
CARBOHYDRATES
LIPIDS
PROTEINS
Lipids
Organic molecules insoluble in water
Lipids are fats and oils
They are made up from reaction between alcohol - glycerol
and acid - fatty acids
Fats are solid in
room temperature
Oils are liquid in
room temperature
Lipids
Examples of fatty acids are stearic acid, oleic acid and
palmitic acid
H C O stearic acid
2 A simple
H C O oleic acid lipid
H C O palmitic acid
2
glycerol fatty acids
Triglycerides
CARBOHYDRATES
LIPIDS
PROTEINS
Chemistry of Proteins
6
Proteins
Proteins are made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
molecules but with the addition of nitrogen
Carbohydrates are made up of glucose units.
Proteins are made up of units called amino acids
There are about 20 different amino acids. Examples are
glycine (Gly), alanine (Ala), valine (Val) and cysteine (Cyst)
The amino acids, Gly-Val-Val-Cyst-Ala-Gly-Ala-Val
joined together would make a small protein
Proteins make up the structure of cells; cytoplasm, nucleus
cell membranes and enzymes
General Structure of
Amino Acids
• The amino
group is
attached to the
α- carbon which
is next to the
carboxyl group;
hence the name
α-amino acid
Amino Acids
• Amino acids - the basic structural units of proteins.
• Proteins when hydrolyzed either by boiling with acids or by
the action of enzymes like trypsin are broken down into
amino acids.
Haemoglobin
• Globular protein with a quaternary structure
• Consists of 4 polypeptide chains, each containing
haem group
• Each haem carry one oxygen molecule
• So each Hb carry 4 O2 (8 oxygen atoms)
Fibrous Proteins
Structure of a DNA molecule:
(a) two strands coiled
together to form a
double helix
(b) each strand
contains chemicals
called
bases
(c) bonds between
pairs of bases hold the
strands together
(d) the bases always
pair up in the same
way:
A with T, and C with G
Describe the structure of a DNA molecule
(IGCSE Q)
(a) two strands coiled together to form a double helix
(b) each strand contains chemicals called bases
(c) bonds between pairs of bases hold the strands
together
(d) the bases always pair up in the same way:
A with T, and C with G
Learning objective:
Food test - tests to identify the presence of
various biomolecules
Describe the use of various chemical reagents to test the
presence of different biomolecules in the give sample
1. iodine solution test for starch
2. Benedict’s solution test for reducing sugars
3. biuret test for proteins
4. ethanol emulsion test for fats and oils
5. DCPIP test for vitamin C
Describe the use of various chemical reagents to test the
presence of different biomolecules in the give sample
1. iodine solution test for starch
Benedict’s solution test for reducing sugars
biuret test for proteins
ethanol emulsion test for fats and oils
DCPIP test for vitamin C
Describe the use of various chemical reagents to test the
presence of different biomolecules in the give sample
1. iodine solution test for starch
2. Benedict’s solution test for reducing sugars
3. biuret test for proteins
4. ethanol emulsion test for fats and oils
5. DCPIP test for vitamin C
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLP8dcnWnJg
type of organic
macromolecule
monomer polymer
carbohydrate monosaccharide polysaccharide
protein amino acid polypeptide
DNA nucleotide
nucleic acid RNA nucleotide
polynucleotide
lipid - -
