Ch 09 - Biomolecules11th Biology
Elemental Abundance in Living vs. Non-living
If you compare the elemental composition of a living tissue to a piece of the Earth's crust, what striking difference emerges regarding relative abundance?
If you compare the elemental composition of a living tissue to a piece of the Earth's crust, what striking difference emerges regarding relative abundance?
- Similarity: Both contain the exact same major elements (Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, etc.).
- Key Difference: The relative abundance of Carbon (C) and Hydrogen (H) with respect to other elements is significantly higher in living organisms than in the Earth's crust.
- Water is the most abundant chemical overall in living organisms.
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Chemical Composition Analysis
How do scientists physically separate micromolecules from macromolecules when analyzing the chemical composition of a living tissue?
How do scientists physically separate micromolecules from macromolecules when analyzing the chemical composition of a living tissue?
- Grinding: The living tissue is ground using a mortar and pestle in trichloroacetic acid () to form a thick slurry.
- Filtration: The slurry is strained through cheesecloth or cotton.
- Acid-Soluble Pool (Filtrate): Contains thousands of small organic compounds (Micromolecules, MW < 1000 Da).
- Acid-Insoluble Fraction (Retentate): Contains large polymeric biomolecules (Macromolecules).
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Average Composition of Cells
What is the relative percentage abundance of the major biochemical components in a typical living cell?
What is the relative percentage abundance of the major biochemical components in a typical living cell?
- Water: 70-90% (Most abundant)
- Proteins: 10-15%
- Nucleic acids: 5-7%
- Carbohydrates: 3%
- Lipids: 2%
- Ions: 1%
Proteins are the most abundant organic macromolecule in the cell.
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Water Pushes Nucleic Carbs Low Inside (Water, Proteins, Nucleic acids, Carbohydrates, Lipids, Ions)
Also in this chapter
42 more cards to study in Prism
- 4Primary vs. Secondary Metabolites
- 5Important Secondary Metabolites
- 6Alpha-Amino Acids Structure
- 7Amino Acid Classification by R-Group
- 8The Zwitterionic Form
- 9Proteins as Heteropolymers
- 10Levels of Protein Architecture
- 11The Most Abundant Proteins
- 12Specific Protein Functions
- 13Saturated vs. Unsaturated Fatty Acids
- 14Glycerol and Glycerides
- 15The Lipid Molecular Weight Paradox
- 16Storage Polysaccharides
- 17Complex Polysaccharides: Chitin
- 18The Iodine-Starch Complex
- 19Nucleosides vs. Nucleotides
- 20Watson-Crick B-DNA Model
- 21Covalent Bonds in Biomacromolecules
- 22Qualitative Tests for Biomolecules
- 23Rate of a Physical or Chemical Process
- 24Dynamic State of Body Constituents
- 25Carbonic Anhydrase Reaction
- 26The Living State
- 27Metabolite Concentrations in the Living State
- 28The Enzyme Catalytic Cycle
- 29Examples of Metabolic Transformations
- 30Enzymes and Activation Energy
- 31Oxidoreductases / Dehydrogenases
- 32Transferases
- 33Effect of Temperature and pH on Enzymes
- 34Substrate Concentration and Vmax
- 35Michaelis-Menten Constant (Km)
- 36Competitive Inhibition
- 37Enzyme Classification System
- 38Hydrolases & Isomerases
- 39Lyases vs. Ligases
- 40Co-factors & Apoenzymes
- 41Prosthetic Groups
- 42Co-enzymes
- 43Glycolysis Metabolic Pathway
- 44Metal Ion Co-factors
- 45Ribozymes: Non-Protein Enzymes
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