BIOL 2410 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Sodium Chloride, Cell Nucleus, Hydrophile
16 Sep 2016
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Important as cell building blocks, energy sources and information storage. Water is the most important inorganic molecule. 60% of the human body is water. Effectively dissolves sugars, amino acids, and other polar compounds. Example: lipids such as oil and fatty acids. Oxygen gas and carbon dioxide gas are small and non-polar. They are able to dissolve in water. Saltas will dissociate into component ions when added to water. Polarity of water cater to the charges on each ion. Four major classes of organic macromolecules: carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, proteins. Dissolve well in water provided they aren"t too large. Easily catabolized to supply the cell with energy. Found as structural molecules in fungal cells, plant cells, bacterial cells and some animal cells. Can be attached to other lipids and proteins. Include deoxyribose and ribose as well as glucose, fructose and galactose. Two sugar units covalently attache via dehydration reaction between two monosaccharides. Maltose is produced from breakdown of starch and glycogen.
