1. The Macromolecules of Life

2. Cell Bio State Standards
1. What are the major compounds found in living organisms? What are their structures and functions? Bio Standard 1h
a. How is each macromolecule made (what are their subunits)?
b. What function does each compound serve for living organisms?
c. Key terms to know: polysaccharide, nucleic acid, protein, lipid,
i. Other terms to use: amino acids, polymer, fatty acids and glycerol, monomer, phosphate, monosaccharide, disaccharide, nucleotide, dehydration synthesis, hydrolysis.

3. Essential Questions
What four compounds are all living organisms made of?
What is the function of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and Nucleic Acids?
How do these compounds get made and broken down?

4. Two Reactions: Dehydration Synthesis and Hydrolysis
Dehydration Synthesis: How cells make things.
Dehydrate: remove water.
Synthesis put together.
Must remove water to put pieces together.
Make macromolecules (polymers) from simpler subunits (monomers).
Hydrolysis: How cells break things down.
Hydro: water
Lysis: destroy or burst
Process in which polymers are broken down into monomers by adding water.

5. Dehydration Synthesis
Dehydration Synthesis: Remove water and put together monomers to make polymers.

6. Hydrolysis: reaction (rxn) that uses water to break down polymers to monomers.
Protein + water = amino acid + amino acid
Polymer + water = monomer + monomer

7. Most Macromolecules are Made of Many Subunits
4 macromolecules of life
Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins, Nucleic Acids
Macromolecules are polymers
Monomers: simple subunits such as amino acids.
Individual subunits are joined together to make polymers (poly = many, mer = units)
Polymer is made of many monomers.
Example: Several amino acids (monomers) put together makes a protein (polymer)

8. Carbohydrates Carbohydrates are also known as “sugars” Used for energy
Subunit = monosaccharide
Ex. Glucose
2 subunits (monosaccharides) = disaccharide (di = two)
Ex. Lactose, Sucrose
Many subunits = polysaccharides
Ex. Starch, cellulose

9. are simple sugars (end in ose)
Monosaccharides
are simple sugars (end in ose)
Examples:
Glucose, found in sports drinks
Fructose, found in fruit
Honey contains both glucose and fructose
Figure 3.8

10. Disaccharides two monosaccharides joined by dehydration synthesis
Glucose
Glucose
Maltose
Figure 3.11

11. Polysaccharides: many monosaccharides joined.
Examples: Starch, Glycogen, Cellulose
Glucose
monomer
Starch granules in
potato tuber cells
(a) Starch
Glycogen
Granules
In muscle
tissue
(b) Glycogen
Cellulose fibril in
a plant cell wall
Cellulose molecules
(c) Cellulose
Figure 3.13

12. Lipids Lipids: fats or waxy substances.
Used for energy (9x carbohydrate per gram), insulation, cushioning and cell membranes
Subunits: Created from glycerol and fatty acids

13. Phospholipids: make up a cell’s membrane
Head: hydrophilic (hydro = water, phil = love)
Tails: hydrophobic (hydro = water, phobia = fear)

14. Dietary fat consists largely of the molecule triglyceride
Fats
Dietary fat consists largely of the molecule triglyceride
Fat Molecule= glycerol + three fatty acids
Fatty acid
Glycerol
(a) Dehydration synthesis linking a fatty acid to glycerol
Figure 3.15a

15. Which triglycerides are saturated below?
(b) A fat molecule
Figure 3.15B

16. Proteins
Proteins: instrumental in virtually everything an organism does.
Examples: Enzymes (make all other compounds), hair, cell structure, skin, blood.
subunit = amino acids
Amino acids are joined to form polypeptides or proteins
Ex. Hemoglobin, collagen (skin), enzymes

17. Nucleic Acids Two types of Nucleic acids,
DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) and RNA (Ribonucleic Acid),
Function: store and transmit genetic information
Subunit = nucleotides
Four basic nucleotides in DNA: A,T, C, G

18. Essential Questions
What four compounds are all living organisms made of?
What is the function of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids?
How do these compounds get made and broken down?

19. Cell Bio State Standards
1. What are the major compounds found in living organisms? What are their structures and functions? Bio Standard 1h
a. How is each macromolecule made (what are their subunits)?
b. What function does each compound serve for living organisms?
c. Key terms to know: polysaccharide, nucleic acid, protein, lipid,
i. Other terms to use: amino acids, polymer, fatty acids and glycerol, monomer, phosphate, monosaccharide, disaccharide, nucleotide, dehydration synthesis, hydrolysis.