Monomers And Carbohydrates

Monomers are the single units that make up polymers (macromolecules). Monomer means a single unit. The three different types of Monomers are simple sugars, nucleotides and amino acids.

Polymers are a chain of monomers interconnected. The three types of polymers are carbohydrates, nucleic acids and proteins. Polymers make up macromolecules.

Carbohydrates are one of the four classes of biological macromolecules. The chemical formula for carbohydrates is CH2O (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen), and their atom ratio is always 1:2:1. Carbohydrates can be found in plants cell walls, fruits, vegetables, like sugar and flour, animals also produce carbohydrates like milk.

..A dehydration synthesis reaction is when two monomers combine by giving up a hydrogen atom and the other giving a hydroxyl molecule to make a polymer. this reaction produces H2O in the process.

...A hydrolysis reaction occurs when water is added to a polymer and splits the polymers into monomers. One monomer takes a hydrogen (H+) atom and the other takes the remaining hydroxyl molecule. Hydro means water and lysis means to break.

Glycosidic linkage is when monosaccharides combine due to dehydration synthesis. Alpha glycosidic linkage is when the links between the two monosaccharides point down resulting in a helix formation. Alpha-Glycosidic linkage is used for energy storing.

Monosaccharides are made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen (CHO). They are the monomers for carbohydrates . Monosaccharides are classified by the number of carbon atoms and the position of their carbonyl group.

Glucose is a monosaccharide and the most basic unit of a carbohydrate. Found in fruits, vegetables, and grains. Animals and humans store glycogen which is broken down into glucose which our cells and organs use for energy.

A hexose is a monosaccharide with 6 carbon atoms in its skeleton. A chemical name for a hexose would be C6H12O6. Glucose, fructose and galactose are hexoses, but have different arrangements of their atom structure.

A disaccharide is when two sugar units combine through a glycosidic bond. Disaccharides are made by the monosaccharides glucose, fructose and galactose combining. the three disaccharides are lactose, sucrose and maltose.

Lactose is a disaccharide where glucose and galactose create glycosidic linkage between each other. Animals and humans can produce lactose.

Sucrose is a disaccharide where glucose and fructose create glycosidic bonds between each other. Sucrose is broken down in humans and animals to provide energy to cells.

...Polysaccharides are many monosaccharides chained together. You can think of this like a tree in a forest. The tree being a monosaccharide, and the forest being polysaccharides.

...Plants store chemical energy as starch, which is made of many glucose monomers joined by alpha glycosidic linkage. This is an alpha bond, which forms a helix shape and making it easy to store energy.

...Glycogen is the energy storage polysaccharide found in animals. Glycogen is found in the muscle, liver, and fat cells. With Glycogen, one is able to fit more glucoses in a smaller space because it is highly branched. Glycogen has a alpha glycosidic bond and its structure is a helix.

...Cellulose is an organic compound known for forming tough fibers in plant cell walls. Cellulose has cross linked linear chains, this makes it very strong. Cellulose has an beta glycosidic bond making their structure linear. Linear chains in cellulose is stabilized by hydrogen bonds.

...Chitin is the cellulose in fungi and in animals. It acts as a structural molecule. Chitin can be found as the exoskeleton of insects, and crustaceans. Chitin has an beta GL bond making their structure linear and providing hard exoskeletons.

...Peptidoglycan is a polymer of sugar and protein that makes up the bacterial cell walls. Linked together by beta-GL. This is only found in bacteria, adding strength to the cell wall. It allows sugars, amino acids and other ions in to the cell only when needed.

...Glycoprotein is found to serve as the identity markers. They are the key molecules in cell recognition and cell signaling. The information is displayed on the outer surface of cells, and they are important for cell-cell recognition, allow cells to tell what's foreign.

...The two functional groups of Carbohydrates would be carbonyl (COH) group, and hydroxyl (OH) group. The OH groups between monosaccharaides link together to form either alpha or beta glycosidic bonds.

...Beta-glycosidic linkage is a covalent bond that links monosaccharides together. In order for it to be a Beta-glycosidic linkage, the bond must be pointing upward. Beta-glycosidic linkage has a linear parallel structure and is used for structural support in organisms (e.g. cell wall, exoskeleton).