STUDY GUIDE for GENERAL
BIOLOGY (Finals)
BIOMOLECULES- substances that are
important in life.
-any of numerous substances that are
produced by cells and living organisms.
Biomolecules have a wide range of sizes and
structures and perform a vast array of
functions.
bio=life
molecule=substances
MONOMERS- building blocks of carbs,
lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids.
-a molecule that can be bonded to
other identical molecules to form a polymer.
POLYMERS- any of a class of natural or
synthetic substances composed of very large
molecules, called macromolecules, which
are multiples of simpler chemical units
called monomers. Polymers make up many
of the materials in living organisms and are
the basis of many minerals and man-made
materials.
Carbohydrates- found in a wide array of
both healthy and unhealthy foods—bread,
beans, milk, popcorn, potatoes, cookies,
spaghetti, soft drinks, corn, and cherry pie.
-a biomolecule consisting of carbon
(C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms,
usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio
of 2:1 (as in water)
-storage form of carbohydrates in
animals is glycogen and in plants it is starch
Monosaccharides- glucose (simplest),
galactose, fructose (fruit sugar)
Disaccharides- lactose (milk sugar), maltose
(malt sugar), sucrose (table sugar)
Polysaccharides- starch(present in plants),
glycogen (present in animals), cellulose
(large amount)
monomer-monosaccharides
Lipids- molecules that contain hydrocarbons
and make up the building blocks of the
structure and function of living cells.
-glycerol and 3 fatty acids- ester
bond
- Include fats consisting of one fatty
acid molecule and three glycerol
molecules
-Examples of lipids include fats, oils,
waxes, certain vitamins (such as A, D, E and
K), hormones and most of the cell
membrane that is not made up of protein.
monomers-fatty acids and glycerol
Proteins- large, complex molecules that
play many critical roles in the body. They do
most of the work in cells and are required
for the structure, function, and regulation of
the body's tissues and organs.
Monomer-amino acids
-dictates the chemical
properties of amino acids-variable side (R)
chai
Nucleic Acids-large biomolecules that play
essential roles in all cells and viruses. A
major function of nucleic acids involves the
storage and expression of genomic
information. Deoxyribonucleic acid, or
DNA, encodes the information cells need to
make proteins.
monomers-nucleotides
*nucleoside- A nucleoside is a compound
that consists of a purine or pyrimidine base
combined with deoxyribose or ribose and is
found especially in DNA or RNA
-Monomers of nucleoside-
nitrogenous base and pentose sugar
*Deoxyribose represents a pentose
-example of a DNA strand-
CTACCCGTCGGATTGTCT
complementary in mRNA is
GAUGGGCAGCCUAACUGA

Enzymes- proteins that help speed up

metabolism, or the chemical reactions in our
bodies. They build some substances and Phospholipids(structure above)- major
break others down. All living things have membrane lipids that consist of lipid
enzymes. Our bodies naturally produce bilayers. This basic cellular structure acts as
enzymes. a barrier to protect the cell against various
-Without the presence of enzymes, environmental insults and more importantly,
the reactions necessary to sustain life would enables multiple cellular processes to occur
require higher temperatures in order to in subcellular compartments.
occur.
-The part of the enzyme where the
substrate binds is called the active site.
-When a substrate binds to the
enzyme's active site, an enzyme-substrate
complex is formed. What happens next is
that the substrate is broken down into
A- enzyme
products through catalysis reaction.
B- substrate
Example* carboxylation of ribulose
C- product
bisphosphate (RuBP)- catalyzed by
RuBisCO

Photosynthesis- uses sunlight to convert

water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and
high energy sugars
-In the overall equation for
photosynthesis, six molecules of carbon
dioxide and six molecules of water result in
a molecule of sugar and six molecules of
oxygen
X-substrate 1st step- excitement of an electron of
Y-active site chlorophyll a by a photon of light

When electrons in the reaction-center

chlorophyll become so excited; they escape
to a nearby primary electron acceptor
molecule

Light Dependent Reaction

-happens in the thylakoids
(photosystems I and II)
-products- ATP and NADPH and
oxygen

Light Independent Reaction- Calvin

Cycle
-happens in the stroma
Stroma-The Calvin cycle produces
sugar.
-product- glucose (C6H12O6)
NADP+ - role is to carry electrons during
photosynthesis
3 parts of ATP-adenine, ribose, and three
phosphate groups

Equation for photosynthesis-

6CO2+6H2O→C6H12O6+6O2.