Questions

1. What are the different functions of water in living systems.

Water is a solvent for numerous biochemical molecules giving solutions and

enabling: transport of nutrients, removal of excretory products and secretion of
substances.

Role of water in metabolic reactions

The majority of essential metabolic reactions take place in solution in water.
Water is a raw material or a product of many metabolic reactions.
 Hydrolysis involves the addition of water (hydro) in the breakdown (lysis) of large
biological molecules into their monomers/subunits, e.g. proteins into amino acids.
(Water is release during condensation reactions).
 Water produced as a metabolic product of respiration is essential for organisms,
especially those living in dry habitats. It is the final electron acceptor in the electron
transport chain.
 Water is needed for photosynthesis as water is split in the photolysis of water, in order
to replace the electrons lost from chlorophyll, and to provide protons for the NADPH.

Role of water in support

Water is not easily compressed and has an important role in support in plants
and animals
 The uptake of water by plant cells creates a pressure against the rigid cell wall.
 This turgor pressure helps non-woody plants to remain upright.
 Water provides buoyancy for aquatic organisms, e.g whales.
 Water has a high specific tension and water molecules have cohesive forces holding
them together, due to hydrogen bonding between water molecules.
 These properties allow aquatic insects to walk on the surface of water, and water to be
pulled through xylem in plants.
 Transpiration of water from the stomata allows water to be pulled up the stem. This
brings essential nutrients with it.

Role of water in temperature regulation

Water has a high specific heat capacity which means it adsorbs a lot of heat
energy for its temperature rise, and loses a lot to cool. This help to:
 Reduce temperature fluctations in organisms - especially large ones.
 Minimise increases in temperature in cells as a result of biochemical reactions.
 Reduce fluctations in temperature in aquatic habitats.
A lot of heat is needed to turn water into vapour (it has a high latent heat of
vaporisation)
 This helps some animals to maintain a constant body temperature as a high amount of
heat energy is removed from the body to evaporate sweat or during planting.
 In plants evaporation of water from leaves has a cooling effect.

At 4*C water is at its maximum density and becomes less dense as it freezes.
 Water is denser as a liquid than as a solid
 Thus cold water forms ice on the upper surface, insulating the aquatic organisms below.
 Water must lose a relatively large amount of heat energy to freeze, making the
formation of ice crystals in cells less likely.

2. How would you define dialysis and osmosis. Cite possible applications of
above procedures.

Osmosis is the diffusion (i.e. movement) of a solvent (e.g. water) across a semi-
permeable membrane. Dialysis is the separation (i.e. movement)
of moleculesthemselves.

Dialysis is the process by which an artificial kidney machine removes waste products
from a patients' blood—performing the role of a healthy, normally functioning kidney. The
openings in the dialyzing membrane are such that not only water, but salts and other
waste dissolved in the blood, pass through to a surrounding tank of distilled water. The
red blood cells, on the other hand, are too large to enter the dialyzing membrane, so
they return to the patient's body.

Osmosis is also used for preserving fruits and meats, though the process is quite
different for the two. In the case of fruit, osmosis is used to dehydrate it, whereas in the
preservation of meat, osmosis draws salt into it, thus preventing the intrusion of bacteria.

Osmosis has several implications where medical care is concerned, particularly in the
case of the storage of vitally important red blood cells. These are normally kept in a
plasma solution which is isotonic to the cells when it contains specific proportions of
salts and proteins. However, if red blood cells are placed in a hypotonic solution, or one
with a lower solute concentration than in the cells themselves, this can be highly
detrimental.
 P 42

1. Will disaccharides and polysaccharides give a positive result for Molisch’s test?

All carbohydrates (monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides) give a positive reaction for
Molisch test. It is based on the dehydration of the carbohydrate by Sulphuric acid to produce an
aldehyde, which condenses with two molecules of α-naphthol, resulting in appearance of a purple ring
at the interface.

2. Which of the different carbohydrate test would give a positive result for maltose? Describe
the color change
Benedict’s test would give a positive result for maltose. A red precipitate would
be obtained when boiled with Benedict's solution since maltose is a reducing
sugar.

3. Can selwanoffs test be used to distinguish sucrose from fructose? Explain

Yes, fructose is a ketose, for which Seliwanoff's test is most sensitive.

Sucrose is neither entirely a ketose nor an aldose, but is a mixture of
both. It will react, but more slowly, producing a much lighter pinkish
color.

4. Inulin is a polysaccharide composed entirely of fructose units. Which test should be used to
best identify the presence of fructose

Since fructoce is a monosaccharide and thus, a reducing sugar, then benedict’s test can be
used to identify the presence if fructose in inulin.

P 48.

1. What is lactic acid fermentation. Show the reactions involved in the process.
Lactic acid fermentation is a metabolic process by which glucose and other six-carbon
sugars (also, disaccharides of six-carbon sugars, e.g. sucrose or lactose) are converted into cellular
energy and the metabolite lactate. It is an anaerobic fermentation reaction that occurs in some
bacteria and animal cells, such as muscle cells.[1][2][3]
 2. What type of microorganisms carries out the fermentation of milk into yoghurt?
In the production of yoghurt, bacteria convert lactose into lactic acid, giving yogurt its
sour taste.

3. The word antibiotic comes from antibiosis. What is antibiosis?

Antibiosis is a biological interaction between two or more organisms that is detrimental to at least
one of them; it can also be an antagonistic association between an organism and the metabolic
substances produced by another.[1] Examples of antibiosis include the relationship
between antibiotics and bacteria or animals and disease-causing pathogens. The study of antibiosis
and its role in antibiotics has led to the expansion of knowledge in the field of microbiology.
Molecular processes such cell wall synthesis and recycling, for example, have become better
understood through the study of how antibiotics affect beta-lactam development through the
antibiosis relationship and interaction of the particular drugs with the bacteria subjected to the
compound.[2]

4. How did antibiotics used interfere with the proce1.

5. ss of fermentation in this experiment?

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6. Why is it absolutely necessary that aseptic conditions be maintained throughout the

experiment?

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7. ?????

P 54

1.??

2.

a.
b. 2Na+ C18H35O2- (solute) +Mg++ = Mg(C18H35O2)2 (precipitate) +
2Na+

3. Detergents are the best emulsifier for oils in water. Detergents are molecules that
have an water soluble head, and an oil soluble tail. The molecules cluster around
oils with their 'tails' in the oil and heads looking out at water, forming a 'surface' that
looks like it is water soluble. Typically detergents are made from oils, such as
kerosene reacted with a strong acid, like sulfuric acid.