Lecture 1.4 Competencies and Study Guide
Foundations of Biology
Vocabulary
- Monomer
- Polymer
- Peptide
- Oligopeptide
- Polypeptide
- Protein
- Ligand
- Enzyme
- Catalyst
- Nucleotide
- Nucleic acid
- Central dogma of biology
Competencies
Mastery of this lecture will allow you to do the following. These competencies will form the basis of the quiz for this lecture, and some questions on the first and final exams.
- Describe conditions of the early Earth (4.4 billion years ago).
- Explain the set-up, execution and results of the Miller-Urey experiment.
- Draw from memory the structural formula for a general amino acid in both nonionized and ionized forms.
- Describe the 3 main classes of amino acid side chains found on proteins in living systems. How is each class defined?
- Explain condensation reactions and the formation of polymers from monomers.
- Draw from memory the formation of a peptide bond.
- Compare and contrast polypeptides and proteins. Be as specific and complete as possible.
- Express the percentage of dry mass of living tissue that is made up of protein.
- Explain why proteins are arguably the most important molecules in living tissues.
- Explain why all enzymes are proteins, but not all proteins are enzymes.
- Describe the structure of a nucleotide, including the 3 main parts (moieties).
- Draw the structural formula of ribose from memory, including properly numbered carbons.
- Describe the difference in structural formulas of ribose and deoxyribose.
- Define carbohydrate.
- What structural bond connects adjacent nucleotides in nucleic acids?
- What are the base-pairing rules of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and what types of bonds connect the 2 helices together?
- Describe the general structure of the DNA molecule, including the following:
- major groove;
- minor groove;
- spatial dimensions of the double helix twist;
- actual distance between adjacent nucleotides;
- width of the DNA double helix;
- number of nucleotides in a single twist of the DNA double helix.
- See CSHL DNA Learning Center video for an accurate 3-dimensional representation of DNA.
- How does the Central Dogma of Biology connect the function of nucleic acids and proteins?