CHAPTER 9 BIOMOLECULES
- Amino acids, monosaccharide and disaccharide sugars, fatty acids, glycerol, nucleotides, nucleosides and nitrogen bases are some of the organic compounds seen in the living organisms.
- There are 21 types of amino acids and 5 types of nucleotides.
- Only three types of macromolecules i.e., proteins, nucleic acids and polysaccharides are found in living systems.
- Proteins are heteropolymers made of amino acids.
- Nucleic acids (RNA and DNA) are composed of nucleotides. They serve as genetic material.
- Polysachharides are components of cell wall in plants. They are also storage forms of energy.
- Proteins serve a variety of cellular functions. Some of them are enzymes, some are antibodies, some are receptors, some are hormones and some others are structural proteins
- Enzymes and proteins which catalyze biochemical reactions in the cells.
- Enzymes lower the activation energy of reactions and enhance greatly the rate of the reactions.
- Nucleic acids carry hereditary information and are passed on from parental generation to progeny.