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| a chemical compound containing the element carbon and usually synthesized by cells. |
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| a chemical compound composed only of the elements carbon and hydrogen. |
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the chain of carbon atoms that forms the structural backbone of an organic molecule. |
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| organic compounds with the same molecular formula but different structures and, therefore, different properties. |
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| an assemblage of atoms that forms the chemically reactive part of an organic molecule. |
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| "water-loving"; pertaining to polar, or charged, molecules (or parts of molecules) that are soluble in water. |
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| in an organic molecule, a functional group consisting of a hydrogen atom bonded to an oxygen atom. |
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| in an organic molecule, a functional group consisting of a carbon atom linked by a double bond to an oxygen atom. |
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| in an organic molecule, a functional group consisting of an oxygen atom double-bonded to a carbon atom that is also bonded to a hydroxyl group. |
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| in an organic molecule, a functional group consisting of a nitrogen atom bonded to two hydrogen atoms. |
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| an organic compound with one or more amino groups. |
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| a functional group consisting of a phosphorus atom covalently bonded to four oxygen atoms. |
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| a giant molecule in a living organism: a protein, carbohydrate, lipid, or nucleic acid. |
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| a large molecule consisting of many identical or similar molecular units, called monomers, covalently joined together in a chain. |
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| a chemical subunit that serves as a building block of a polymer. |
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| a chemical process in which a polymer forms as monomers are linked by the removal of water molecules. One molecule of water is removed for each pair of monomers linked. Also called condensation. |
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| a chemical process in which macromolecules are broken down by the chemical addition of water molecules to the bonds linking their monomers; an essential part of digestion. |
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| member of the class of biological molecules consisting of simple single-monomer sugars (monosaccharides), two monomer sugars (disaccharides), and other multi-unit sugars (polysaccharides). |
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| the smallest kind of sugar molecule; a single-unit sugar. Monosaccharides are the building blocks of more complex sugars and polysaccharides. |
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| a sugar molecule consisting of two monosaccharides linked by a dehydration reaction. |
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| a carbohydrate polymer consisting of hundred to thousand of monosaccharides (sugars) linked by covalent bonds. |
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| a storage polysaccharide found in the roots of plants and certain other cells; a polymer of glucose. |
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| a complex, extensively branched polysaccharide of many glucose monomers; serves as an energy-storage molecule in liver and muscle cells. |
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| a large polysaccharide composed of many glucose monomers linked into cable-like fibrils that provide structural support in plant cell walls. |
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an organic compound consisting mainly of carbon and hydrogen atoms linked by nonpolar covalent bonds, making the compound mostly hydrophobic. Lipids include fats, waxes, phospholipids, and steroids and are insoluble in water. |
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| "water-fearing"; pertaining to nonpolar molecules (or parts of molecules) that do not dissolve in water. |
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| a fat, which consists of a molecule of glycerol linked to three molecules of fatty acid. |
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| pertaining to fats and fatty acids whose hydrocarbon chains lack the maximum number of hydrogen atoms and therofre have one or more double covalent bonds. Unsaturated fats and fatty acids do not solidify at room temperature. |
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| pertaining to fats and fatty acids whose hydrocarbon chains contain the maximum number of hydrogens and therefore have no double covalent bonds. Saturated fats and fatty acids solidify at room temperature. |
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| a molecule that is a constituent of the inner bilayer of biological membranes, having a polar, hydrophilic head and a nonpolar, hydrophobic tail. |
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| a type of lipid whose carbon skeleton is in the form of four fused rings: three 6-sided rings and one 5-sided ring; examples are cholesterol, testosterone, and estrogen. |
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| a synthetic variant of the male hormone testosterone that mimics some of its effects. |
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| a biological polymer constructed from amino acid monomers. |
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| a protein that serves as a biological catalyst, changing the rate of a chemical reaction without itself being changed into a different molecule in the process. |
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| an organic molecule containing a carboxyl group and an amino group; serves as the monomer of proteins. |
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| the covalent linkage between two amino acid units in a polypeptide; formed by a dehydration reaction. |
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| a chain of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. |
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| a process in which a protein unravels, losing its specific conformation and hence function; can be caused by changes in ph or salt concentration or by high temperature; also refers to the separation of the two strands of the DNA double helix; caused by similar factors. |
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| the first level of protein structure; the specific sequence of amino acids making up a polypeptide chain. |
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| the second level of protein structure; the regular patterns of coils or folds of a polypeptide chain. |
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| the spiral shape resulting from the coiling of a polypeptide in a protein's secondary structure. |
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| the folded arrangement of a polypeptide in a protein's secondary structure. |
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| the third level of protein structure; the overall, three-dimensional shape of a polypeptide in a protein. |
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| the fourth level of protein structure; the shape resulting from the association of two or more polypeptide subunits. |
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| a polymer consisting of many nucleotide monomers; serves as a blueprint for proteins and, through the actions of proteins, for all cellular structures and activites. The two types of nucleic acids are DNA and RNA. |
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| deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) |
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Definition
| the genetic material that organisms inherit from their parents; a double-stranded helical macromolecule consisting of nucleotide monomers with deoxyribose sugar and the nitrogenous bases adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T). |
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| a type of nucleic acid consisting of nucleotide monomers with a ribose sugar and the nitrogenous bases adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and uracil (U); usually single-stranded; functions in protein synthesis and as the genome of some viruses. |
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| an organic monomer consisting of a five-carbon sugar covalently bonded to a nitrogenous base and a phosphate group. Nucleotides are the building blocks of nucleic acids. |
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| an organic molecule that is a base containing the element nitrogen. |
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| the form of native DNA, referring to its two adjacent polynucleotide strands wound into a psiral shape. |
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