What are the essential elements of life? 96% of living matter

What are the essential elements of life? Carbon - “Backbone of Life” Can form bonds with 4 other atoms, including other carbon atoms Bond can be single, double, triple

What are the essential elements of life? Carbon - “Backbone of Life” Can form bonds with 4 other atoms, including other carbon atoms Bond can be single, double, triple forms long chains and branching chains Aspartic Acid

What are the essential elements of life? Hydrocarbons - molecules with only carbon and hydrogen Complex organic molecules are formed by the addition of functional groups (sections of the molecule that generally participate together as a unit in chemical reactions) – denoted with an “R” in some diagrams Hydrocarbon Functional group

What are the essential elements of life? Small organic molecules (monomers) can be linked into long chains (polymers) called organic macromolecules because of carbon’s ability to form multiple bonds and bond with other carbon atoms. Basic structure of amino acids Polysaccharides (complex carbohydrates) are chains of monosaccharides (sugars) Lipids are chains of fatty acids Nucleic Acids (DNA and RNA) are chains of nucleotides Polypeptides (proteins) are chains of amino acids Link together to form proteins

The four primary organic macromolecules Recall: Organisms perform catabolism to break down these macromolecules into their individual components (nutrients) Organisms perform anabolism to build their own macromolecules from nutrients, which they use, in turn, to build all of their cellular components Digestion Starts in the mouth, continues in the stomach, concludes in the small intestine Energy plus components of fatty acids, amino acids, and nucleotides Catabolism Anabolism Polysaccharides Lipids Nucleic acids Proteins