BIOMOLECULES

Biomolecules are macromolecules or “giant molecules.” They are giant because

they are made up of small molecules.

Examples are Glucose(sugar),

glycogen, cellulose and starch
•Functions– the body’s main or
primary source of energy
•Structure: elements are carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen in a 1:2:1 ratio
•Building blocks or Monomers are
Monosaccharides (or simple sugar)
energy, main structural component
•Structure: elements are carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen but much less
 Examples are DNA and RNA
 Function is to store and
transmit hereditary information
 Structure: elements are
carbon, hydrogen, oxygen,
nitrogen, and phosphorous. The
nucleotide is made of a sugar,
phosphate, and a nitrogen base.
•Examples are fat, oil and waxes
•Function– long term storage of
of the cell membrane, secondary
source of energy.
oxygen than carbohydrates; more
difficult to break down than
carbohydrates
•Building blocks or
Monomers are Glycerol and Fatty
acid chains)
 Examples are muscles,
enzymes, antibodies, protein
channels, hormones
 Function– control rate of
chemical reactions, control the
movement of molecules across
the cell membrane and major
functional component of living
things
 Structure: elements are
carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and
nitrogen
 Building Blocks
or Monomers are Amino Acids

 Building block or Monomer--

Nucleotide

The monomers of these The main difference between Monosaccharides

organic groups are: Disaccharides and Polysaccharides is that monosaccharides
Carbohydrates - are monomers of sugars and disaccharides are composed
monosaccharides. of two monomers whereas polysaccharides are composed
 Lipids - glycerol and fatty of a large number of monomers.
acids.
 Nucleic acids - nucleotides.
 Proteins - amino acids.
  Alanine  Isoleucine
 Arginine  Histidine
 Asparagine  Leucine
 Aspartic Acid  Methionine
 Cysteine  Lysine
 Glutamic Acid  Phenylalanine
 Glutamine  Tryptophan
 Glycine  Threonine
 Proline  Valine
 Serine
 Tyrosine

Amino acid Three letter code One letter code

alanine ala A
arginine arg R
asparagine asn N
aspartic acid asp D
asparagine or aspartic acid asx B
cysteine cys C
glutamic acid glu E
glutamine gln Q
glutamine or glutamic acid glx Z
glycine gly G
histidine his H
isoleucine ile I
leucine leu L
lysine lys K
methionine met M
phenylalanine phe F
proline pro P
serine ser S
threonine thr T
tryptophan trp W
tyrosine tyr Y
valine val V