A compound containing carbon

Critically important large molecules of all living things (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids)

A long molecule consisting of many similar or identical building blocks linked by covalent bonds.

The repeating units that serve as the building blocks of a polymer

A reaction in which two molecules are covalently bonded to each other, with the loss of a water molecule

The breaking apart of the covalent bonds between two monomers by the addition of a water molecule.

sugars and polymers of sugars

molecular formulas that are some multiple of the unit CH2O

two monosaccharides joined together by a glycosidic linkage

a covalent bond formed between two monosaccharides by a dehydration reaction

A polymer of glucose monomers, as granules within cells; made by plants

A polymer of glucose with many branches; made by animals

Polysaccharide used by arthropods to build their exoskeletons; also in fungi cell walls

Molecules that mix poorly with water because they mostly consist of hydrocarbon regions

Constructed from two kinds of smaller molecules: glycerol and fatty acids

A molecule that has a long carbon skeleton, usually 16 or 18 carbon atoms in length, with many hydrogen atoms bonded to it

A fatty acid which has one or more double bonds between carbon atoms on the hydrocarbon chain, resulting in one fewer hydrogen atom on each double-bonded carbon.

A fatty acid which has no double bonds between carbon atoms on the hydrocarbon chain, resulting in as many hydrogen atoms as possible bonded to the carbon skeleton

The main constituent of cell membranes; a molecule with two fatty acid molecules and a phosphate group joined to the glycerol molecule

Lipids characterized by a carbon skeleton consisting of four fused rings

A biologically functional molecule consisting of one or more polypeptides folded and coiled into a specific three-dimensional structure

Chemical agents that selectively speed up chemical reactions without being consumed by the reaction

An organic molecule with both an amino group and a carboxyl group; the monomer of proteins

The covalent bond joining two amino acids together through a dehydration reaction

The part of an amino acid that varies from one amino acid to the next. The R group gives the amino acid its chemical properties. For example, if the R group contains many carbon-hydrogen bonds, it is chemically nonpolar.

A protein's sequence of amino acids

A protein's coils and folded patterns, which result from the hydrogen bonding of atoms in amino acids located near by each other

A common secondary structure of a protein that results in a coil shape along the polypeptide chain

In proteins, a process in which a protein loses its native shape due to the disruption of weak chemical bonds and interactions (such as hydrogen bonds), thereby becoming biologically inactive

A polymer made up of nucleotide monomers

A monomer of nucleic acids; composed of a nitrogenous base, a five-carbon sugar, and a phosphate group

A type of nucleic acid, usually a double-stranded helix, in which each polynucleotide strand consists of nucleotide monomers with a deoxyribose sugar and the nitrogenous bases adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and thymine (T); capable of being replicated and determining the inherited structure of a cell's proteins.

A type of nucleic acid consisting of a polynucleotide made up of nucleotide monomers with a ribose sugar and the nitrogenous bases adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), or uracil (U); usually single-stranded; functions in protein synthesis, gene regulation, and as the genome of some viruses

The sugar found in DNA

A molecule containing one or two rings which include nitrogen atoms

The overall shape of a DNA molecule, which has two polynucleotides or strands that spiral around an imaginary axis