Chapter - 2 Short

XI – BIOLOGY 1 Chapter: 2
Chapter # 2
Biological Molecules
Short questions and answers
Q. Define biochemistry. Give its importance.
Biochemistry
Def: - “It is a branch of biology which deals with the study biochemical compounds and
chemical processes in the body of living organisms”.
Importance of biochemistry:-
It helps to get information about structure and formation of biochemical compounds like
proteins, carbohydrates etc.
It explains about abnormal reactions causing disease in our body so these could be treated
well by medicines.
It also explains about the messages transport mechanism in neurons.
It gives information about the chemical basis of cellular differentiation from fertilized egg to
different body organ tissues.
It explains about the growth of cells
It explains about the mechanism of memory
Q. Briefly describe the Chemical Composition of Cell.
Introduction:
The body of all living organisms is composed of cells and a cell contains a living material called
Protoplasm. It contains enormous biochemical compounds and is responsible for all vital functions
of life. Protoplasm contain about 70 to 90% water when water evaporates remaining mass is the
dry weight of cell. The biochemical present in it mainly composed 98% of these six elements C, N 2,
P, H2, O2 and S.
Q. Name the biological molecules present in living organisms.

Biomolecules can be divided in to following groups according to variability in their functions and
chemical structures.
1. Proteins
2. Carbohydrates
3. Nucleic acids
4. Lipids
5. Conjugated molecules
Q. Describe the chemical nature of water.
Water is present in all living cells. Its composition varies from 70 to 90% from cell to cell.
Chemical nature of Water:-
A water molecule is chemically composed of two Hydrogen atoms and one Oxygen atom. Water is a
polar molecule i.e. it ahs slightly negative end, oxygen and slightly positive end, Hydrogen atoms.
This separation of electrical charge is called dipole. This property helps H 2O molecule to form
hydrogen bonds.
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Q. Why water is considered as a best solvent?
Water is called a universal solvent due to its polar nature and dissolve substances many polar and
can also react with non polar substances.
Q. How biochemical reactions carried out at constant rate and cellular contents remain stable in
water?
The specific heat of water is high therefore it is slow to release and absorb heat. This thermal
stability plays an important role in biochemical reactions to carried out at fairly constant rate.
Due to strong hydrogen bonding water requires high amount of heat to change in to vapor form.
Similarly needs greater amount of energy to freeze. Therefore cellular contents remain stable.
Q. Water act as amphoteric molecule. How?
Water acts as both acid and a base, so it is an amphoteric molecule. Due to this property it acts as
the best suitable medium for chemical processes particularly metabolism by maintaining its pH as
buffer in the living cell.
Q. Classify the primary types of organic molecules.
The molecules contain carbon and hydrogen elements necessarily with other elements are
called organic molecules. These are formed inside the cell in the following state.
Macromolecules These are huge and highly organized molecules.

Ex. DNA, Haemoglobin.
Monomers Macromolecules are composed of large numbers of low
molecular weight building blocks or subunits are called
monomers. Ex. amino acids.
Polymers These are formed by the combination of more then two
monomers. Ex. proteins, lipids etc.
Q. Describe the synthesis of large molecules by condensation.

“The joining of two monomers are called condensation”.
Two monomers join together when a hydroxyl (-OH) group is removed from one monomer and
a (-H) is removed from another monomer. This is also called dehydration synthesis because water is
removed and a bond is made. Condensation always takes place in the presence of enzyme and
energy.
Q. Describe the breaking of large molecules by Hydrolysis.
“The process in which macromolecules or polymers are broken down into smaller monomers or
sub-units by the addition of water is called hydrolysis”.
During this process a water molecule breaks in to +H and –OH ions by the help of enzyme,
whereas –OH group attaches to one monomer and a –H attaches to the other. When a bond is
broken, energy is released or made available. E.g. In animals large molecules are digested by the
activity of enzyme called hydrolytic enzyme.

Q. Briefly describe Carbon element.
Carbon is a unique element it forms number of compounds which vary widely in their properties
and adaptation. Study of these carbon containing compounds are called organic chemistry.
Carbon has atomic number 6 and contains 4 electrons in its outmost shell so it can combine with
four atoms by covalent bond.
Carbon is capable of forming bonds with other elements like Oxygen, Nitrogen, Sulphur,
Phosphorus, and Halogens (Cl, Br, I) and with electropositive element Hydrogen.
Q. Define and describe the types of covalent bonds.
“A chemical bond formed by the mutual sharing of electrons in between at least two same or
different elements is called covalent bond”.
Carbon forms three types of covalent bonds.
1. Single Covalent bond: This bond is form by the mutual sharing of one
pair between the atoms.
CH3------CH3
Ethane
2. Double Covalent bond: This bond is form by the mutual sharing of two
CH3======CH3
Ethene
3. Triple Covalent bond: This bond is form by the mutual sharing of three
CH3_____CH3
Ethyne
Q. Define a functional group and their linkages.
Functional Group: These are particular group of atoms that behave as a unit and give organic
molecules their physical, chemical properties and solubility in aqueous solution.
Some functional groups are as follows
The most common linkages formed between functional groups are as follows
1) Ester bond: - Bond formed between carboxylic acid and alcohol.
2) Amide bond: - A bond formed between carboxylic acid and amine.
Q. Write a note on Protein.
Proteins are the most important building block of all the living organisms’ body. These are large
molecules with structural and metabolic functions. Keratin, which makes up hair and nails, and
collagen fibers, which support many organs, are examples of structural proteins.
The name protein was suggested by Berzelius in 1838 and the Dutch Chemist G.J. Murlder in
1883 recognized the importance of protein as vital compound. Proteins are complex organic
compounds having H, C, O, and N as elements but sometimes they contain P and S also. Due to the
presence of N they are called nitrogenous compounds. Egg, meat, fish, pulses are the major source
of proteins.

Q. Describe the functions of Protein.
Some of the important characteristics of proteins are as follows:

 Proteins provide many of the structural elements of a cell, and help to bind cells together into
tissues.
 Some proteins act as contractile elements, to make movement possible; others control the
activity of genes, transport needed material across the membrane.
 Proteins in the form of antibodies protect animals form disease and, in the form of interferon,
attack the viruses which escape form antibodies.
 Proteins in the form of some hormones participate in growth and development of living
organism.
Q. Define and describe the characters of Amino Acids.
Def: - “An organic compound containing one or more amino groups (-NH 2 ) and one or more
carboxyl groups (-COOH) is known as amino acid”.
 The amino acids occur freely in the cytoplasmic matrix.
 The amino acids are derived from the organic acids in which the hydrogen in alpha position is
replaced by the amino group. For example the amino acid glycine is formed by the acetic acid and
alanine derived from propionic acid.
 Amino acids are linked together by specialized bond or linkage called peptide linkage.
 The cytoplasm contains about 20 amino acids which are classified in to two groups; hydrophilic
amino acids (11) and hydrophobic amino acids (9).
Q. How amino aids combine with each other.
When two molecules of amino acids are combined then the basic group (-NH 2) of one amino acid
molecule combines with the carboxylic (-COOH) group of other amino acid and the loss of a water
molecule takes place. This condensation of two amino acid molecules by –NH-CO linkage or bond is
known as peptide linkage or peptide bond resulting the formation of polypeptide chain formation of
protein.
Q. Briefly describe the structures of protein.
Structure of proteins:
There are four basic level structures of proteins:
1) Primary structure: A polypeptide chain having a linear sequence of amino acid having disulphide
(S-S) bond is called primary structure. This structure was discovered by Frederick Sanger and his
co-workers at Cambridge University in 1955.
2) Secondary structure: When a polypeptide chain of amino acids become spirally coiled this
structure is called Secondary structure of protein. This is a tubular and rigid structure called
helix.
3) Tertiary structure: The term Tertiary structure refers to the irregular loops or bends making
three dimensional polypeptide structures.
4) Quaternary Structures: It is the association of more than one polypeptide chain into large sized
molecules called quaternary structure.
Q. Briefly describe Carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates are the compounds of the carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. They generally represented
as (CH2O) n and are called hydrate of carbon. Only green parts of plants and certain microbes have
the power of synthesizing the carbohydrates form the water and CO 2 in the presence of sunlight and

chlorophyll by the process of photosynthesis. Carbohydrates use as a building material and as
storage substances in living organisms.
Q. Classify carbohydrates on the basis of monomers.
These are classified in to following groups on the basis of monomers.
1. Monosaccharides (Monomers),
2. Oligosaccharides (Oligomers), and
3. Polysaccharides (Polymers).
Q. Write a note on Monosaccharides.
These are called simple sugars with the empirical formula C n(H2O)n. They are classified and named
according to the number of carbon atoms in their molecules as follows. These are found in various
fruits and vegetables e.g. Glucose is a primary source of energy for the cell found in ripe fruits,
honey, sugar cane etc. Fructose is also present in fruits and called fruit sugar. Galactose is found in
combined state in lactose (milk).
Q. Define Oligosaccharides with examples.
These consists of 2 to 10 Monosaccharides in their molecules. These are formed by condensation of

Monosaccharides. Certain important oligosaccharides are as follows:
 Disaccharides contain two monomers e.g. sucrose, lactose, maltose etc.
 Trisacchrides contain three monomers e.g. rabinose
 Tetrasaccharides contain four monomers e.g. scordose.
 Pentasacchrides contain five monomers e.g. verbascose.
Q. Describe Polysaccharides with example
The polysaccharides are composed of ten to many thousands monosaccharide as the

monomers in their molecules. These are of two kinds.
 Homopolysaccharides contains similar kinds of monosaccharides in their molecules. e.g. starch,
glycogen an cellulose.
 Heteropolysaccharides contains different kinds of monosaccharides in their molecules.
Q. Give a comparison of Starch, Glycogen and Cellulose.
Starch Glycogen Cellulose

1. It is the important 1. It is also a reserve 1. Cellulose is a glucose
storage food material of storage food and polymer produce in
plants. commonly known as plants.
2. It is found in cereals, animal starch. 2. In cellulose glucose
legumes, potatoes and 2. It is found in bacteria, molecules are arranged in
other vegetables. fungi, liver and muscles a linear sequence.
3. It is insoluble in water. tissues of animals. 3. It is the main
4. It is converted in to 3. It is insoluble in water. constituent of plant cell
simple sugars by 4. It is stored in granular wall and most abundant
hydrolysis and then form. carbohydrate in nature.
oxidized to produce
energy to be used in
metabolism of other
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Q. Describe the functions of carbohydrates
 Carbohydrates are the major source of energy.

 It is also act as storage food in the form of starch in plants and glycogen in animals.
 Cellulose forms the cell wall of the plant cells and provides mechanical support to the cell.
 The hyaluronic acid (Muccopolysacchrides) forms the cementing material of the connective
tissues. it occurs in the skin, connective tissues and synovial fluid of the joints.
 The chondroitin sulphate occurs in the cells of the cartilage, skin, cornea, umbilical cord and it
serves as a matrix for the bone formation.
 Chitin which is similar to cellulose and serve as a structural polysaccharide for fungi and certain
other lower plants and as the exoskeleton of many insects.
Q. Briefly describe lipids.
Bloor in 1943 proposed the term lipid according to him, “These are organic compounds which are
insoluble in the water but soluble in organic solvent”.
The lipids are non polar and hydrophobic. They are the important constituents of the cellular
membranes, hormones, and vitamins of the cells. They also form the source of energy for the cells.
Q. Write a note on Acylglycerol.
Acylglycerol (Fats and Oil)
Generally these are called fats and oils and found in animals and plants.
These compounds posses double amount of energy then Carbohydrates by having C-H bonds. About
16 Kg fats or 144000 k cal energy present in a person of average size.
Acylglycerol is also called a Triacyglyceride because of three fattyacids linked with one glycerol
molecule.
There are two types of Acylglycerol.
(a) Saturated Acylglycerol

 These compounds have no double bond between the carbon atoms.
 These are solid at ordinary temperature.
 These are mostly found in animals
(b) Unsaturated Acylglycerol

 They contain one or more than one double bond between carbon atom.
 They are liquid at ordinary temperature.
 They are found in plants and also called oil. e.g. linolin present in cotton seed.
Q. Briefly describe waxes.
Waxes belong to the group of biological molecules called lipid. In waxes, a long chain of fatty acid
combines with a long chain of alcohol by ester bonding. Being hydrophobic, they are also water
proof and resistant to degradation. In many plants waxes form a protective cuticle (covering) that
retards the loss of water for all exposed parts. In animals, waxes are involved in skin and fur
maintenance. In humans wax is produced by glands in the outer ear canal here its function is to trap
dust and dirt particles.
Q. Write a note on Phospholipids

These are similar to Tryacylglycerol or an oil except in place of fatty acid is replaced by phosphate
group. A phosphate group is a polar group that can ionize and therefore is hydrophilic. When
Phospholipids molecules are placed in water, they form a double layer in which the polar heads face
outward and the non polar tails face each other. This property of phospholipids means that they
can form an interface or separation between two solutions, such as the interior and exterior of a
cell. Therefore helps in cell permeability and transport processes.
Q. Describe the properties of Terpenoids.
 Terpenoids is a large and important class of lipids.

 They help in oxidation reduction processes as terpens.
 These are found in cell membrane and as plant pigments.
Q. Describe few characters of Steroids.
 Steroids belong to the Terpenoids of lipids.

 They consist of four fused carbon ring and varies from other steroids primarily by the type of
functional groups attached to the rings.
 These fused rings with total of 17 carbon atoms are called steroid nucleus.
 Cholesterol is an important steroid used for the synthesis of other steroids, sex hormones such
as testosterone, progesterone and estrogens.
Q. What are Carotenoids describe their characters.

 The carotenoids are the compound lipids and they form the pigments of the animals and plant
cells.
 There are about 70 carotenoids occurring in both type of cells.
 Chemically carotenoids are propyrines which are linked with metals and proteins and forming
the important pigments of animals and plant cells such as the chlorophyll and haemoglobin.
 Carotenoids are red, orange, yellow, cream and brown in colours in plants.
 Some important carotenoids are carotene, xanthophylls etc.
Q. Write a note on Nucleic Acid.
Initially 22 years old a Swedish Friedrich Miescher isolate a nuclear substance and named nuclein,
later on it was named nucleic acid. These nucleic acids are present in all living organisms in the form
of DNA and RNA which often remain combined with nuclear proteins. In a typical eukaryotic nucleus
thousand times more DNA than a bacterium and a hundred thousands times more than a virus is
found. Nucleic acids are composed of large numbers of nucleotides like proteins and the
arrangements of nucleotides in a chain manner is called polynucleotide or polymer of nucleotide.
Q. What are the components of nucleotide?
Definition: “Portion of DNA or RNA molecule composed of one Deoxyribose phosphate unit (in DNA)
or one ribose phosphate unit (in RNA) in addition with Purine or a Pyrimidine is called a
Nucleotide”.
A nucleotide is consists of following three parts.

(i) Pentose sugar
(ii) Phosphoric acid
(iii) Nitrogen base
Pentose sugar
“Sugar molecules contain five carbon atoms called pentose”. These are of two types Ribose
(C5H10O5) or Deoxyribose (C5H10O4) which serves as a basic skeleton in DNA or RNA.
Phosphoric acid (H3PO4)

Phosphoric acid is common in all nucleotides. It is attached with 5 th carbon of pentose sugar I each
nucleotide.
Nitrogen bases
“The nitrogen containing organic compounds of DNA or RNA are called nitrogenous bases”.
There are two basic types of nitrogen bases Purines and Pyrimidine.
Purine includes Adenine and Guanine.
Pyrimidine includes cytosine, thymine and uracil.
Q. Describe the Formation of Nucleotide.
Formation of nucleotide takes place in two steps.

i) Firstly the nitrogenous base combines with pentose sugar as its first carbon to form a nucleoside.
ii) At the second step the phosphoric acid combines with the 5 th carbon of Pentose sugar to form a
nucleotide.
Q. Describe the types of nucleotides.
Mononucleotide
“Mononucleotide is the molecules used to caries energy and exists singly in the cell”.
Some of these have extra phosphate group e.g. ATP (adenosine triphosphate).
Dinucleotide
“When two nucleotide are covalently bounded together, these compounds are called dinucleotide”.
The best example of dinucleotide is Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD).
Polynucleotide
Polynucleotides include nucleic acids. These are considered as central dogma of life. These are
biological macromolecules serves as repositors of genetic information and precursor to determine
the path of growth and development in living organisms and control the synthesis of different
biomolecules like proteins etc. Both RNA and DNA are polynucleotide.
Q. Write notes on the following
1. ATP 2. NAD
ATP
The ATP consists of a Purine base adenine, a pentose sugar ribose and three molecules of the
phosphoric acid. in ATP the last phosphate group is linked with ADP by a special bond “ because
when the last phosphate group of the ATP is released the large amount of energy is released as
shown by the following reaction.
NAD
NAD is a Co-enzyme [Coenzymes are the molecules (non-protein) which bind to enzyme (Protein)
and serves as a carrier for chemical groups or electrons] that carries electron and work with

- +
dehydrogenate enzyme. It removes two hydrogen atom (2e +2H ) from its substrate, both
electrons. But only one hydrogen ion is passed to NAD which reduces it to NADH.
Q. Differentiate between RNA and DNA

RNA DNA
 In RNA ribose sugar present.  In DNA Deoxyribose sugar is present.
 RNA occur in nucleus, ribosome  DNA presents in the nucleus but also
and in the cytoplasmic matrix. occur in the mitochondria plastids and
 RNA contains Adenine, Guanine, centrioles.
Cytosine and Uracil bases in their  In DNA bases are Adenine, Guanine,
nucleotide. Cytosine, and Thymine in their
 RNA is of three kinds rRNA, tRNA, nucleotides.
and mRNA.  DNA is of just one kind.
 RNA is single stranded.  DNA is double stranded helical structure.
 RNA work as a Carrier of  DNA work as hereditary material in
information in Eukaryotes. Eukaryotes.
Q. Why DNA considered as hereditary material?
The DNA has a key role in all the biosynthetic and hereditary functions of the living organisms. The
most important function of the DNA is that it acts as a carrier of genetic information from
generation to generation. It is the most stable compound of the biological world which can be
considered as immortal.
This can be proved by transformation process in bacteria and infection of bacteria by bacteriophage
where it directs the synthesis of more phages. Hershey and Chase thus experimentally confirmed
that DNA must be the genetic material.
Q. What are Genes? Explain.
In view of molecular geneticists, a gene is a sequence of DNA nucleotide bases that codes for a
product. DNA has specific sequence of nitrogenous bases. These four bases shows enormous
combinations in which each of these combinations refer to specific information as we see in protein
synthesis where amino acids are represented by different pairs of codons. Thus these combinations
representing specific information and are called genes. e.g. a piece of DNA with 10 nucleotide and
exists in over a million different possible sequences of four bases these all are considered as genes
which represents specific characters.
Q. Why RNA considered as a Carrier of Information?
RNA is considered as a carrier of information because it receives and transmits the information
from the DNA and act accordingly in different biochemical processes.
DNA synthesis RNA which carries information from DNA to the cytoplasm. There are three types of
RNA’s present in cytoplasm that perform different functions.
 Messenger RNA (mRNA): This carries information from DNA to cytoplasmic matrix.
 Transfer RNA (tRNA): These are present in the cytoplasm and act according to the
instructions coming from DNA through mRNA.
 Ribosomal RNA (rRNA): These are present in the ribosomes and providing a platform for the
attachment of both tRNA and mRNA.
Activities of RNA’s can be seen in the process of protein synthesis which is a two step process.

Transcription
In this step DNA synthesis mRNA and transfer the information for the manufacturing of protein in
the cytoplasmic matrix.
Translation
In this step information receive in ribosome where rRNA and tRNA work according to the
instruction and synthesize the protein.
Q. What are Conjugated Molecules describe their types and functions.
These are the biomolecules which are formed by the combination of two different molecules.
Following are the types of conjugated molecules.
i) Glycolipids
Def; “Lipids containing fatty acids carbohydrates and nitrogenous compounds are called
Glycolipids”. These are important constituent of brain and also called cerebrosides.
ii) Glycoproteins or Mucoids

Def.:- “When carbohydrates combined with protein molecules these molecules are called
Glycoproteins”. E.g. egg albumin, gonadotropic hormones etc.
ii) Nucleoproteins
Def: - “These are found in the nucleus conjugated with nucleic acid”. These are weakly acidic and
soluble in water.
iv) Lipoproteins
Def:- “ Lipids and proteins combined together and form molecules are called Lipoproteins”.
 These help in the transportation of lipid in the blood plasma.
 They also present in cellular organelles.
 These occur in the hyaline sheath of nerves, photoreceptive structures, chloroplast and the
membranes of bacteria.
Descriptive questions
Q. Describe the Biological properties of water.
The biologically important properties of water are as follows:-
Best Solvent: Water is called a universal solvent due to its polar nature and dissolve
substances many polar and can also react with non polar substances.
High heat capacity: The specific heat of water is high therefore it is slow to release and
absorb heat. This thermal stability plays an important role in biochemical reactions to carried
out at fairly constant rate.
High Heat of vaporization: Due to its hydrogen bonding water requires high amount of heat to
change in to vapour form. Similarly needs greater amount of energy to freeze. Therefore cellular
contents remain stable.
An amphoteric molecule: Water acts as both acid and a base, so it is an amphoteric molecule.
Due to this property it acts as the best suitable medium for chemical processes particularly
metabolism by maintaining its pH as buffer in the living cell.

Cohesive force in water molecules : There is a force of attraction among the water molecules, it
is called cohesive force. It helps in the transportation of substances both outside and inside the
cells.
Importance in Metabolism: The water has greater importance for the various metabolic
functions because most of them require exclusively the aqueous media.
Water as absorbent for photosynthesis: The water is transparent to light, enabling the
specialized photosynthetic organelles, the chloroplast, inside the plant cell to absorb the
sunlight for the process of photosynthesis.
Q. Explain the structure and functions of protein in view of amino acids.
Proteins
Proteins are the most important building block of all the living organisms’ body. These are large
molecules with structural and metabolic functions. Keratin, which makes up hair and nails, and
collagen fibers, which support many organs, are examples of structural proteins.
The name protein was suggested by Berzelius in 1838 and the Dutch Chemist G.J. Murlder in 1883
recognized the importance of protein as vital compound. Proteins are complex organic compounds
having H, C, O, and N as elements but sometimes they contain P and S also. Due to the presence of
N they are called nitrogenous compounds. Egg, meat, fish, pulses are the major source of proteins.
Functions of Proteins:
Some of the important characteristics of proteins are as follows:

 Proteins provide many of the structural elements of a cell, and help to bind cells together into
tissues.
 Some proteins act as contractile elements, to make movement possible; others control the
activity of genes, transport needed material across the membrane.
 Proteins in the form of antibodies protect animals form disease and, in the form of interferon,
attack the viruses which escape form antibodies.
 Proteins in the form of some hormones participate in growth and development of living
organism.
AMINO ACID AS A BUILDING BLOCK OF PROTEIN:
Def:- “ An organic compound containing one or more amino groups (-NH 2 ) and one or more
carboxyl groups (-COOH) is known as amino acid”.
 The amino acids occur freely in the cytoplasmic matrix.
 The amino acids are derived from the organic acids in which the hydrogen in alpha position is
replaced by the amino group. For example the amino acid glycine is formed by the acetic acid
and alanine derived from propionic acid.
 Amino acids are linked together by specialized bond or linkage called peptide linkage. Where R is
the radical group, it shows the variety of structures.
 The cytoplasm contains about 20 amino acids which are classified in to two groups; hydrophilic
amino acids (11) and hydrophobic amino acids (9).
Linkage of Amino Acids:
When two molecules of amino acids are combined then the basic group (-NH 2) of one amino acid
molecule combines with the carboxylic (-COOH) group of other amino acid and the loss of a water

molecule takes place. This condensation of two amino acid molecules by –NH-CO linkage or bond is
known as peptide linkage or peptide bond resulting the formation of polypeptide chain formation of
protein.
Structure of proteins:
There are four basic level structures of proteins:

1) Primary structure: A polypeptide chain having a linear sequence of amino acid having disulphide
(S-S) bond is called primary structure. This structure was discovered by Frederick Sanger and his
co-workers at Cambridge University in 1955.
2) Secondary structure: When a polypeptide chain of amino acids become spirally coiled this
structure is called Secondary structure of protein. This is a tubular and rigid structure called
helix.
3) Tertiary structure: The term Tertiary structure refers to the irregular loops or bends making
three dimensional polypeptide structures.
4) Quaternary Structures: it is the association of more than one polypeptide chain into large sized
molecules called quaternary structure.
Q. Explain the structure, classification and functions of Carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are the compounds of the carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. They generally represented
as (CH2O)n and are called hydrate of carbon. Only green parts of plants and certain microbes have
the power of synthesizing the carbohydrates form the water and CO 2 in the presence of sunlight and
chlorophyll by the process of photosynthesis.
Carbohydrates use as a building material and as storage substances in living organisms.

These are classified in to following groups on the basis of monomers.
1. Monosaccharides (Monomers),
2. Oligosaccharides (Oligomers), and
3. Polysaccharides (Polymers).
1. Monosaccharides (Monomers)
These are called simple sugars with the empirical formula C n(H2O)n. They are classified and named
according to the number of carbon atoms in their molecules as follows.
Class Formula Example
Triose They contain three carbon Glyceraldehydes and

atoms C3 H6 O3 Dihydroxy acetone
Tetrose They contain four carbon Erythrose, Erythrulose
atoms C4 H8 O4
Pentose They contain five carbon Ribose, Deoxyribose
atoms C5H10O5
Hexose They contain six carbon Glucose, Fructose etc.
atoms in their molecules
C6H12O6
Heptose TheyShahrah-e-Faisal
contain seven Campus
carbon Glucoheptose,
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atoms in their Sedoheptulose.
molecules.C7H1407
These are found in various fruits and vegetables e.g.

Glucose is a primary source of energy for the cell found in ripe fruits, honey, sugar cane etc.
Fructose is also present in fruits and called fruit sugar. Galactose is found in combined state in
lactose (milk).
Oligosaccharides
These consists of 2 to 10 monosaccharides in their molecules. These are formed by condensation of

monosaccharides. Certain important oligosaccharides are as follows:
 Disaccharides contain two monomers e.g. sucrose, lactose, maltose etc.
 Trisacchrides contain three monomers e.g. rabinose
 Tetrasaccharides contain four monomers e.g. scordose.
 Pentasacchrides contain five monomers e.g. verbascose.
Polysaccharides
The polysaccharides are composed of ten to many thousands monosaccharide as the monomers
in their molecules. These are of two kinds.
 Homopolysaccharides contains similar kinds of monosaccharides in their molecules. e.g. starch,
glycogen an cellulose.
 Heteropolysaccharides contains different kinds of monosaccharides in their molecules.
Functions of Carbohydrates:
 Carbohydrates are the major source of energy.
 It is also act as storage food in the form of starch in plants and glycogen in animals.
 Cellulose forms the cell wall of the plant cells and provides mechanical support to the cell.
 The hyaluronic acid (Muccopolysacchrides) forms the cementing material of the connective
tissues. it occurs in the skin, connective tissues and synovial fluid of the joints.
 The chondroitin sulphate occurs in the cells of the cartilage, skin, cornea, umbilical cord and it
serves as a matrix for the bone formation.
 Chitin which is similar to cellulose and serve as a structural polysaccharide for fungi and certain
other lower plants and as the exoskeleton of many insects.
Q. Explain the classes of lipid with their characteristics.
Lipids
Bloor in 1943 proposed the term lipid,“ these are organic compounds which are insoluble in the
water but soluble in organic solvent”.
 The lipids are non polar and hydrophobic.
 They are the important constituents of the cellular membranes, hormones, and vitamins of the
cells.
 They also form the source of energy for the cells.
The important groups of lipids are as follows.

1. Acylglycerol (Fats and Oil)
 Generally these are called fats and oils and found in animals and plants.
 These compounds posses double amount of energy then Carbohydrates by having C-H bonds.
 About 16 Kg fats or 144000 k cal energy present in a person of average size.
 Acylglycerol is also called a Triacyglyceride because of three fattyacids linked with one glycerol
molecule.
There are two types of Acylglycerol.
1. Saturated Acylglycerol
 These compounds have no double bond between the carbon atoms.

 These are solid at ordinary temperature.
 These are mostly found in animals
2. Unsaturated Acylglycerol
 They contain one or more than one double bond between carbon atom.
 They are liquid at ordinary temperature.
 They are found in plants and also called oil. e.g. linolin present in cotton seed.
Waxes
 In waxes, a long chain of fatty acid combines with a long chain of alcohol by ester bonding.
 Being hydrophobic, they are also water proof and resistant to degradation.
 In many plants waxes form a protective cuticle (covering) that retards the loss of water for all
exposed parts.
 In animals, waxes are involved in skin and fur maintenance.
 In humans wax is produced by glands in the outer ear canal here its function is to trap dust and
dirt particles.
Phospholipids
 These are similar to Tryacylglycerol or an oil except in place of fatty acid is replaced by
phosphate group.
 A phosphate group is a polar group that can ionize and therefore is hydrophilic.
 When Phospholipids molecules are placed in water, they form a double layer in which the polar
heads face outward and the non polar tails face each other. This property of phospholipids
means that they can form an interface or separation between two solutions, such as the interior
and exterior of a cell. Therefore helps in cell permeability and transport processes.
Terpenoids
 Terpenoids is a large and important class of lipids.

 They help in oxidation reduction processes as terpens.
 These are found in cell membrane and as plant pigments.
Some important classes of Terpenoids are as follows.
Steroids
 These consists of four fused carbon ring and varies from other steroids primarily by the type of
functional groups attached to the rings.

 These fused rings with total of 17 carbon atoms are called steroid nucleus.
 Cholesterol is an important steroid used for the synthesis of other steroids, sex hormones such
as testosterone, progesterone and estrogens.
Carotenoids
 The carotenoids are the compound lipids and they form the pigments of the animals and plant
cells.
 There are about 70 carotenoids occurring in both type of cells.
 Chemically carotenoids are propyrines which are linked with metals and proteins and forming
the important pigments of animals and plant cells such as the chlorophyll and haemoglobin.
 Carotenoids are red, orange, yellow, cream and brown in colours in plants.
 Some important carotenoids are carotene, xanthophylls etc.
Q. Explain the structure and composition of Nucleic acid in view of nucleotide.
Nucleic Acid
Initially 22 years old a Swedish Friedrich Miescher isolate a nuclear substance and named nuclein,
later on it was named nucleic acid.
 These nucleic acids are present in all living organisms in the form of DNA and RNA which often
remain combined with nuclear proteins.
 In a typical eukaryotic nucleus thousand times more DNA than a bacterium and a hundred
thousands times more than a virus is found.
 Nucleic acids are composed of large numbers of nucleotides like proteins and the arrangements of
nucleotides in a chain manner is called polynucleotide or polymer of nucleotide.
Composition of Nucleotide
Definition: “Portion of DNA or RNA molecule composed of one Deoxyribose phosphate unit (in DNA) or
one ribose phosphate unit (in RNA) in addition with Purine or a Pyrimidine is called a Nucleotide”.
A nucleotide is consists of following three parts.
(iv) Pentose sugar

(v) Phosphoric acid
(vi) A nitrogen base
Pentose sugar
“Sugar molecules contain five carbon atoms called pentose”. These are of two types Ribose
(C5H10O5) or Deoxyribose (C5H10O4) which serves as a basic skeleton in DNA or RNA.
Phosphoric acid (H3PO4)

Phosphoric acid is common in all nucleotides. It is attached with 5 th carbon of pentose sugar I each
nucleotide.
Nitrogen bases
“The nitrogen containing organic compounds of DNA or RNA are called nitrogenous bases”.
There are two basic types of nitrogen bases Purines and Pyrimidine.
Purine includes Adenine and Guanine.
Pyrimidine includes cytosine, thymine and uracil.

Types of nucleotides
Mononucleotide
“Mononucleotide are the molecules used to caries energy and exists singly in the cell”.
Some of these have extra phosphate group e.g. ATP (adenosine triphosphate).
Dinucleotide
“When two nucleotide are covalently bounded together, these compounds are called dinucleotide”.
The best example of dinucleotide is Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD).
Polynucleotide
Polynucleotides include nucleic acids. These are considered as central dogma of life. These are
biological macromolecules serves as repository of genetic information and precursor to determine
the path of growth and development in living organisms and control the synthesis of different
biomolecules like proteins etc. Both RNA and DNA are the examples of polynucleotide.
***********

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XI – BIOLOGY 1 Chapter: 2

Q. Briefly describe the Chemical Composition of Cell.

Q. Name the biological molecules present in living organisms.

Q. Describe the chemical nature of water.

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Q. Water act as amphoteric molecule. How?

Q. Classify the primary types of organic molecules.

Macromolecules These are huge and highly organized molecules.

Q. Describe the synthesis of large molecules by condensation.

Q. Describe the breaking of large molecules by Hydrolysis.

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Q. Define and describe the types of covalent bonds.

Q. Define a functional group and their linkages.

Q. Write a note on Protein.

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Some of the important characteristics of proteins are as follows:

Q. Define and describe the characters of Amino Acids.

Q. How amino aids combine with each other.

Q. Briefly describe the structures of protein.

Q. Briefly describe Carbohydrates.

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Q. Classify carbohydrates on the basis of monomers.

These are classified in to following groups on the basis of monomers.

Q. Write a note on Monosaccharides.

Q. Define Oligosaccharides with examples.

These consists of 2 to 10 Monosaccharides in their molecules. These are formed by condensation of

Q. Describe Polysaccharides with example

The polysaccharides are composed of ten to many thousands monosaccharide as the

Q. Give a comparison of Starch, Glycogen and Cellulose.

Starch Glycogen Cellulose

 Carbohydrates are the major source of energy.

Q. Briefly describe lipids.

Q. Write a note on Acylglycerol.

Acylglycerol (Fats and Oil)

(a) Saturated Acylglycerol

(b) Unsaturated Acylglycerol

Q. Briefly describe waxes.

Q. Write a note on Phospholipids

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Q. Describe the properties of Terpenoids.

 Terpenoids is a large and important class of lipids.

Q. Describe few characters of Steroids.

 Steroids belong to the Terpenoids of lipids.

Q. What are Carotenoids describe their characters.

Q. Write a note on Nucleic Acid.

Q. What are the components of nucleotide?

A nucleotide is consists of following three parts.

Phosphoric acid (H3PO4)

Q. Describe the Formation of Nucleotide.

Formation of nucleotide takes place in two steps.

Q. Describe the types of nucleotides.

Q. Write notes on the following

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Q. Differentiate between RNA and DNA

Q. Why DNA considered as hereditary material?

Q. What are Genes? Explain.

Q. Why RNA considered as a Carrier of Information?

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Q. What are Conjugated Molecules describe their types and functions.