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Biology 110 Writing Assignment 1

The four types of macromolecules are as follows: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and
nucleic acids. All contain carbon, are joined by dehydration synthesis (the removal of water), and
are broken by hydrolysis (the addition of water).
The first class of macromolecules is carbohydrates which are composed of Carbon,
Hydrogen, and Oxygen. For every carbon atom there is one molecule of H
2
0. Examples of
carbohydrates include sugar, starches and cellulose. The monomer for carbs is called a
monosaccharide, also known as simple sugars. The bond between two sugars is known as a
glycosidic, covalent bond; in this bond, the hydroxyl groups interact with H
2
0. As they bond,
polysaccharides link together to form long polymers. Carbohydrates serve the function of storing
energy and providing structure. Starches function as energy storage in plants while glycogen
functions as energy storage in humans and other mammals. Both are composed of alpha glucose.
They are water soluble and are composed of branched hydrocarbons. Conversely, cellulose
(which provides structure in plants) is an example of an unbranched hydrocarbon that is
composed of beta glucose and is not water soluble. Being unbranched, it tends to make stacks of
itself.
The second class of macromolecules is lipids. Lipids are mainly composed of hydrogen
and carbon and are nonpolar. Because of this, they are very insoluble in H
2
0. One main type of
lipid is called triglycerides or fats. They are composed of three fatty acids bonded to a glycerol.
The bond between the fatty acid and glycerol is called an ester bond. There are two types of fatty
acids: saturated and unsaturated fat. In saturated fats, all the Carbons are bound to each other by
single bonds and are saturated with the maximum amount of Hydrogen atoms. In contrast,
unsaturated fats are 2 or more Carbon bound via double bonds. These molecules are not saturated
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with Hydrogen. The double bonds can cause a bend in the chain leading to different properties.
All fats are important for energy storage, structure and cushion. Another type of lipid is a
phospholipid. They are composed of a glycerol, 2 fatty acids, and a phosphate group.
Phospholipids are amphipathic, meaning they contain both polar and nonpolar regions. They are
found in membranes as a bilayer which surrounds every single cell. They have a polar,
hydrophilic head and a nonpolar, hydrophobic, fatty acid tail. Another group of lipids are
steroids. They are considered lipids because they are very insoluble. Steroids are composed of 4
rings of Carbon atoms. Examples include cholesterol, estrogen, and testosterone.
The third class of macromolecules is proteins. The monomer is called an amino acid.
Amino acids are composed of an amino group, a carboxyl group, and a variable R group which
determines the properties of the amino acid. They are joined by peptide bonds in which the
carboxyl from one amino acid joins with the amino of another. Proteins have four types of
structure. Primary structure is a sequence of amino acids determined by DNA and held together
by those peptide bonds. In secondary structure, hydrogen bonds form between the amino group
and the carboxyl group of nonadjacent amino acids. This causes a folding of the peptide to form
sheets of helices. In tertiary structure, the R groups start to bind to each other forming complex
3D shape. In quaternary structure, multiple polypeptide chains come together to for a functional
protein. Conformation is the final shape of the completely folded proteins. A protein can lose its
shape by the process of denaturation.
The final class of macromolecules are nucleic acids. They function as storage and
transmission of genetic material (namely DNA and RNA). DNA is usually double stranded and
held together by hydrogen bonds, while RNA is single stranded. The monomer of a nucleic acid,
a nucleotide, consists of three parts: the nitrogenous base, a 5 Carbon sugar (ribose or
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deoxyribose), and a phosphate group. The bond between the sugar of 1 nucleotide and the
phosphate group of another is called a phosphodiester bond. Its also known as the sugar-
phosphate backbone. The 5 nucleotides are as follows: cytosine, uracil (RNA only), thymine
(DNA only), adenine, and guanine. The purines adenine and guanine pair with the pyrimidines
thymine (uracil in RNA) and cytosine, respectively. Purines contain 2 nitrogenous rings, while
pyrimidines only contain 1.
In summation, the four classes of Carbon-containing macromolecules together are the
foundation of organic chemistry and each of the four attribute to an organisms structure and
function.

*All information derived from lecture notes*