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Bio che mis try:
Bioc hem istry is a basi c scie nce whi ch deal s with
chem ical natu re and chem ical beh avio ur of livin g mat ter.
Bioc hem istry invo lves the stud y of:
1. Che mic al con stitu ents of livin g mat ter.
2. Che mic al chan ges whi ch occu r in the orga nism
- duri ng dige stion , abso rpti on and excr etio n.
3. Cl1e mica l chan ges whi ch occu r duri ng grow th and
mul tipli cati on of the orga nisr n.
4. Tran sfor mat ion of one form of chem ical cons titu-
ent to the othe r.
5. Ene rgy chan ges invo lved in such•-Jtra nsfo rma tion s.

Sco pe of Bio che mis try:

Bioc hem istry deal s with the chem ical natu re, stru ctur e
and func tion s of biom olec ules . The vari ous biom olec ules
. are carb ohy drat es, prot eins , · lipid s, nucl eic acid s etc.,
'

Bioc hem ical stud ies ·hav e .reve aled the dyn ami c chan ge~·,
whi ch occu r in thes e biom olec ules . The meta boli sm oi'
thes e biom olec ules is rem arka bly the sam e in alm ost all
orga nism s. Also, ·bioc hem istry has 'reve aled the abno r-
. mali ties in thei r met abol ism and thei r rela tion ship to
vari ous dise ases . Bioc hem istry has help ed to corr ec t
thes e diso rder s with diet ery mod ifica tion s or gene tic n1a-
nipu latio ns. Esti mat ion of enzy mes and othe r bio -
l m_olecules help s in _the diag nosi s of vari ous dise ~ses .
Bioc hem istry has rami fied into m a ny bra nch es of s cien ce
like Medici11e, Pharmacy , Microbiol ogy, Agricultu re etc.
Biomolecules: Biomolec ules are organic molecules pre-
sent iri living systems. The character istic feature of all
livir1g organism s is the remarkab le similarity of these
biomolec ules present in them. The m•a jor elements pre-
sent in these biomolec ules are C, N, H and a. The
biomolec ules can be classified as:
1. Macromo lecules 2. Micromol ecules.
Macromo lecules: They are very large complex organic
1nolecule s with high molecula r weight.· . The 'importan t
macromo lecules . are carbohydt a!_es, .proteins, lipids and
nucleic acids. All these macromo lecules · are made of
many simple, smaller building blocks called manomers .
. l'Aacromo lecules ar~ made of .r epeating units of these
monomer s. So biomolecu les are also known as biopolym-
ers.
Micromo lecules: 'J'hey are simple, smaller organic
molecules with low molecular weight. They gen~!fJ-Ily act
as building blocks of macromol ecules. So they are called
as monomer s or subunits. They show their activity either
individua lly as monomer s or in the form of macrom·o le-
cules.
t,"xamples:
1. Glucose acts as subunit of higher carbohyd rates.
2. Amino acids are subunits of proteins.
3. Fatty acids are subunits of higher fats.
4. Nucleotid es are subuaits of RNA and DNA.
THE CELL . . . the mi croscoµ c, fundamental u . Nucleus
. 1 <l i~covr1v O1 · n1t ~lucteolus
\\'ith t ll' · .", gni scd i.e. cell. Functionin g of ce ll . d Of
c n th
•. 1 , ,·, t1• n1 " ·a:-- I cro . . 1
R1bosom1:;~
bll'lo~ri< n : · · b. 11emi cal processes were st udi e d with th h e - Smooth ER
·d· int 1t1n of 1
al ioc . c elp
r,1-111 11 . , • uch as electron mi crosco pe . ultraccnt •r r
..:'' PE.:rox1&ome
,if n111drrn techniques s d T . 1 t t f' l . rt Uge ' C•jtoskeleton
. b. hvsical metho s. yp1ca s rue ure o ce I is out Golg1comple ~
·rnd numbl'r ot iop . . . Put
· . ·t . Fig 1 1 is t he most gen eralised picture of the II
,,fn\1 thr~c <' 11 OT s. · · . . . ce . Plasma membrane
. . llection of organelles, but 1t illustrates functio . Ce ntriol~~~._::::::,,:~~ =~ -..;,
It 1~ not ~11np 1~, a co ning
~boli c co-ordination between cell organelles. Lysoso '7"- - --+-- M1tocnono r on
of cc II and. met "
Before kn owi ng t he structure and functions of various ce\,
organelles one must know the structural differ e nce between a plant
cell and an an im al cell.
Table 1.1 : Difference between plant and animal cell Fig. 1. 1 : Animal cell

Animal Cell Plant Cell Nucleus

1. Cel l wall is absent. 1. Cell wall is present. Rough ER- -- --=~ ~'tfi
Smooth ER
2. Pl a1-ma-membrane is the 2. Cell wall is the outermost Mitochondrion Cyto skeleton
Chloroplast 1
outermost boundary of the boundary of cell. Golg1 coma ex
cell . Thylakoids Plasma
Starch granules · membrane
3. Plastid s are absent. 3. Cell wall- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~? ~ ~~ 4-~ 7 - Vacuole
Plastids are present.
1. Lysosomes are present. - - - -- Plasmodesm-ata
4. Lysosomes usually absent.
5. Pair of centrioles is present.
5. Centrioles are absent. Fig. 1.2 : Plant cell
6. Vacuo les are absent, if
6. Large central vacuole is
observed arc many and
small. present.

7. Phagocytosis or Pinocyto .
. SIS 7. Phagocytosis or Pinocytosis
1s observed.
is not observed.
8. Golgi apparatu s is present
8. Golgi apparatus is scattered
with specific polarity.
in the cytoplasm .
 The Ce ll
Cell is the basic unit of all biological activities. It is the structural and functional unit of
life. The living organisms are made up of tissues, which are the groups of a large number of
cells. Basically, the cell can be categorized into two types depending on the development of
cellular organelles i.e. prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells. Also there are many single cell
organisms. Molecules that make up the cell are:
Protein - 50% Hydrogen - 59%
Nucleic acid - 15% Oxygen - 24%
Carbohydrates - 15% Carbon - 11%
Lipids - 10% Nitrogen - 4%
Others - 10% Others - 2%
Prokaryotes: These are small, simple, lack organelles like nucleus, mitochondria,
endoplasmic reticulum, have only one chromosome with a single molecule of DNA (double
helical). Further, their reproduction is asexual e.g. blue green algae, mycobacteria,
spirochetes, eubacteria, etc. They have a cell wall made up of peptidoglycan.
Eukaryotes: These are more complex, 1000 to 10,000 · times larger than prokaryotes
possessing well defined nucleus, mitochondria, endoplasmic . reticulum, and several
chromosomes are present in the nucleus e.g. all animal and plant cells, protozoa and fungi.
Plant cells possess a single cell wall usually made up of cellulose and chloroplast while
animal cells lack these organelles. This is the basic difference between a plant cell and an
animal cell. The cell is capable of carrying on the processes of life independently.

Smooth
endoplasmic Ribosomes
Cell wall reticulum Plasma
membrane
Plasma- ~
membrane Nucleus
Nucleolus - ~ ~ F i '
Chloroplast

Nucleolus Rough
endoplasmic ~ -vacuoles
reticulum Cilil)m
Rough Golgi Cytosol Smooth
endoplasmic Lysosomes endoplasmic
reticulum reticulum

Fig. 1.1: Structure of a typical plant cell Fig. 1.2 : Structure of a typical animal cell
 In multicellular organs, the cells are not of the same size and shape, but th ey possess
some common structural features which are as follows:
1. Cell membrane
2. Cytoplasm
3. Nucleus
4. Mitochondria
5. Endoplasmic reticulum
6. Ribosomes
7. Golgi apparatus
8. Lysosomes
9. Peroxisomes
10. Cytoskeleton.
Cell as ·a basic unit: An organism is···made of different
tissues. Tissues are built up of cells. So cells are the
basic fundamental units of biology. The cells of various
tissues and also of. · various organisms have ·remark~ble
similarity. All of them - have similar cell structures like
nucle1:1s, cytoplasm etc.. Cell division is .an ·essential
process of reproduction.. Energy is used to manufacture
new molecules .w hi_c h ' .are incorporated ' in ' the various
structures of cells. . For an ·.organisms, cell is the . basic
' . .
unit.
Cell organelles: The cell has various organelles present
in side. The fallowing are the various cell organelles.
Their functions and markers .are also given. The markers
are usually specific enzymes present in the organelles.
th
The markers help in the isolation and identification of e
partic·ular cell organelle.
 contains chromosomes. Chron-.
Nucleus· The nuc1eus . 'd) . •ltO,
· . DNA (deoxyribonucleic ac1 which is tit
sames contam " . ••te Cytoso~: It contains enzymes of gJycolysis and fatty acid
. ·a1 DNA is the marker 1or nuc 1eus. synthe s1 s. The enzyme lactate dehydrogenase is the
genetic maten ·
marker for cytosol.
Mitochondrlon: It is the site of citric acid cycle ctnq
oxidative phosphorylation. The mitochondrial marker is Table showing cell organelles, their functions
and markers.
glut a mic dellydrogenase.
Ribosomes: They are the sites of p~otein s~~th~~is, Organelle Functions Marker .
content .of RNA ( nbonucle1c acid ).
a h icrh
Th ey h ave t> •: •

which ·is the marker for ribosomes. N:.ideus Contains DNA

chromosomes
Endoplasmic reticulum (ER): The membrane botiiid
ribosomes of ER synthesise proteins . . Al~o, they ~~ ~iFl,- Mitochondrion Citric acid cycle, Glutamic
oxidative deh ydrogenase
volved in the synthesis of various lipids. Glll:co~,Er. -6- posphorylation.
phosphatase is the marker for endoplasmic ·reticull.Jn< '
Ribosomes Protein synthesis RNA
Lysosomes: The lysosomes eontain'. a. va_riety of.d~gred8:-
tive enzymes. These exzymes destroy the dead and: .wqr- Endoplasmic Protein synthesis Glucose - 6 -
nou t materials inside the cell. The marker for lysos~rn~s reticulum Lipid synthesis phusphatase
is acid phosphatase.
Lysosomes Degradative enzymes Acid
Plasma membrane: It is concerned with -the transport phosphatase
of molecules in and out of . the cell. It's markers - a,I:e
Plasma Transport of Na+ fl{+ ATPase
Na +; I( ATP ase and 5 nucleotidase. ,-: · ·.
membrane molecules 5 - nucleotidase. I

Golgi apparatus : It's functions are intracellular sort-L

Golgi apparatus Sorting of proteins Galactosyl
ing of proteins. It is the site of glytosylation. · The Glycosylation transferase
marker is galactosyl transferase.
Peroxysomes Degredation of fatty Catalase
Pcroxisomes: They are concerned with degredation of acids and amino acids. Uric acid oxidase
fatty a,cids and amino acids. Also, they produce · and Production and
degrade hydrogen peroxide. The markers for pe~ox- degradation of H:z02
isomes are catalase and uric acid oxidase.
Cytoskeleton Made of microtubules No specific
Cytoskeleton; It is made of micr~tubules micr~fila- microfilaments and marker

JI
ments and intermediate filaments. Cytoskel~ton has no intermediate filaments
specific marker.
Cytosol Enzymes of glycolysis Lactate
_, -
and fatty acid synthesis dehydrogenase
-
-~=