A report on Biomolecule

A representation of the 3D structure of myoglobin, showing alpha helices, represented by ribbons. This protein was the first to have its structure solved by X-ray crystallography by Max Perutz and Sir John Cowdery Kendrew in 1958, for which they received a Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Stereo 3D image of a group I intron ribozyme (PDB file 1Y0Q); gray lines show base pairs; ribbon arrows show double-helix regions, blue to red from 5' to 3' end; white ribbon is an RNA product.

Loosely used term for molecules present in organisms that are essential to one or more typically biological processes, such as cell division, morphogenesis, or development.

- Biomolecule

14 related topics with Alpha

Protein

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John Kendrew with model of myoglobin in progress

Chemical structure of the peptide bond (bottom) and the three-dimensional structure of a peptide bond between an alanine and an adjacent amino acid (top/inset). The bond itself is made of the CHON elements.

Resonance structures of the peptide bond that links individual amino acids to form a protein polymer

A ribosome produces a protein using mRNA as template

The DNA sequence of a gene encodes the amino acid sequence of a protein

The crystal structure of the chaperonin, a huge protein complex. A single protein subunit is highlighted. Chaperonins assist protein folding.

Three possible representations of the three-dimensional structure of the protein triose phosphate isomerase. Left: All-atom representation colored by atom type. Middle: Simplified representation illustrating the backbone conformation, colored by secondary structure. Right: Solvent-accessible surface representation colored by residue type (acidic residues red, basic residues blue, polar residues green, nonpolar residues white).

Molecular surface of several proteins showing their comparative sizes. From left to right are: immunoglobulin G (IgG, an antibody), hemoglobin, insulin (a hormone), adenylate kinase (an enzyme), and glutamine synthetase (an enzyme).

The enzyme hexokinase is shown as a conventional ball-and-stick molecular model. To scale in the top right-hand corner are two of its substrates, ATP and glucose.

Ribbon diagram of a mouse antibody against cholera that binds a carbohydrate antigen

Proteins in different cellular compartments and structures tagged with green fluorescent protein (here, white)

Constituent amino-acids can be analyzed to predict secondary, tertiary and quaternary protein structure, in this case hemoglobin containing heme units

Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues.

Gerty Cori and Carl Cori jointly won the Nobel Prize in 1947 for their discovery of the Cori cycle at RPMI.

Biochemistry

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Study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms.

The main elements that compose the human body shown from most abundant (by mass) to least abundant.

Structures of some common lipids. At the top are cholesterol and oleic acid. The middle structure is a triglyceride composed of oleoyl, stearoyl, and palmitoyl chains attached to a glycerol backbone. At the bottom is the common phospholipid, phosphatidylcholine.

The general structure of an α-amino acid, with the amino group on the left and the carboxyl group on the right.

Generic amino acids (1) in neutral form, (2) as they exist physiologically, and (3) joined together as a dipeptide.

A schematic of hemoglobin. The red and blue ribbons represent the protein globin; the green structures are the heme groups.

Examples of protein structures from the Protein Data Bank

Members of a protein family, as represented by the structures of the isomerase domains

The structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the picture shows the monomers being put together.

Structural elements of common nucleic acid constituents. Because they contain at least one phosphate group, the compounds marked nucleoside monophosphate, nucleoside diphosphate and nucleoside triphosphate are all nucleotides (not simply phosphate-lacking nucleosides).

Schematic relationship between biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology.

Biochemistry focuses on understanding the chemical basis which allows biological molecules to give rise to the processes that occur within living cells and between cells, in turn relating greatly to the understanding of tissues and organs, as well as organism structure and function.

Lipid

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I2 - Prostacyclin (an example of a prostaglandin, an eicosanoid fatty acid)

LTB4 (an example of a leukotriene, an eicosanoid fatty acid)

Example of an unsaturated fat triglyceride (C55H98O6). Left part: glycerol; right part, from top to bottom: palmitic acid, oleic acid, alpha-linolenic acid.

Structure of the saccharolipid Kdo2-lipid A. Glucosamine residues in blue, Kdo residues in red, acyl chains in black and phosphate groups in green.

Self-organization of phospholipids: a spherical liposome, a micelle, and a lipid bilayer.

In biology and biochemistry, a lipid is a biomolecule that is soluble in nonpolar solvents.

Lactose is a disaccharide found in animal milk. It consists of a molecule of D-galactose and a molecule of D-glucose bonded by beta-1-4 glycosidic linkage.

Carbohydrate

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D-glucose is an aldohexose with the formula (C·H2O)6. The red atoms highlight the aldehyde group and the blue atoms highlight the asymmetric center furthest from the aldehyde; because this -OH is on the right of the Fischer projection, this is a D sugar.

Glucose can exist in both a straight-chain and ring form.

Sucrose, also known as table sugar, is a common disaccharide. It is composed of two monosaccharides: D-glucose (left) and D-fructose (right).

Grain products: rich sources of carbohydrates

A carbohydrate is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula Cm(H2O)n (where m may or may not be different from n).

Diagram of a fly from Robert Hooke's innovative Micrographia, 1665

Biology

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Scientific study of life.

In 1842, Charles Darwin penned his first sketch of On the Origin of Species.

In the Bohr model of an atom, electrons (blue dot) orbit around an atomic nucleus (red-filled circle) in specific atomic orbitals (grey empty circles).

Model of hydrogen bonds (1) between molecules of water

Organic compounds such as glucose are vital to organisms.

A phospholipid bilayer consists of two adjacent sheets of phospholipids, with the hydrophilic tails facing inwards and the hydrophobic heads facing outwards.

The (a) primary, (b) secondary, (c) tertiary, and (d) quaternary structures of a hemoglobin protein

Structure of an animal cell depicting various organelles

Example of an enzyme-catalysed exothermic reaction

Photosynthesis changes sunlight into chemical energy, splits water to liberate O2, and fixes CO2 into sugar.

In meiosis, the chromosomes duplicate and the homologous chromosomes exchange genetic information during meiosis I. The daughter cells divide again in meiosis II to form haploid gametes.

Punnett square depicting a cross between two pea plants heterozygous for purple (B) and white (b) blossoms

Bases lie between two spiraling DNA strands.

The extended central dogma of molecular biology includes all the processes involved in the flow of genetic information.

Regulation of various stages of gene expression

Construction of recombinant DNA, in which a foreign DNA fragment is inserted into a plasmid vector

Model of concentration gradient building up; fine yellow-orange outlines are cell boundaries.

Comparison of allopatric, peripatric, parapatric and sympatric speciation

Bacteria – Gemmatimonas aurantiaca (-=1 Micrometer)

Diversity of fungi. Clockwise from top left: Amanita muscaria, a basidiomycete; Sarcoscypha coccinea, an ascomycete; bread covered in mold; chytrid; Aspergillus conidiophore.

Bacteriophages attached to a bacterial cell wall

The xylem (blue) transports water and minerals from the roots upwards whereas the phloem (orange) transports carbohydrates between organs.

Reproduction and development in sporophytes

Negative feedback is necessary for maintaining homeostasis such as keeping body temperature constant.

Diffusion of water and ions in and out of a freshwater fish

Different digestive systems in marine fishes

Circulatory systems in arthropods, fish, reptiles, and birds/mammals

Asynchronous muscles power flight in most insects. a: Wings b: Wing joint c: Dorsoventral muscles power upstrokes d: Dorsolongitudinal muscles power downstrokes.

Mouse pyramidal neurons (green) and GABAergic neurons (red)

Processes in the primary immune response

Brood parasites, such as the cuckoo, provide a supernormal stimulus to the parenting species.

Terrestrial biomes are shaped by temperature and precipitation.

Reaching carrying capacity through a logistic growth curve

A (a) trophic pyramid and a (b) simplified food web. The trophic pyramid represents the biomass at each level.

Fast carbon cycle showing the movement of carbon between land, atmosphere, and oceans in billions of tons per year. Yellow numbers are natural fluxes, red are human contributions, white are stored carbon. Effects of the slow carbon cycle, such as volcanic and tectonic activity, are not included.

Efforts are made to preserve the natural characteristics of Hopetoun Falls, Australia, without affecting visitors' access.

Within the cytoplasm of a cell, there are many biomolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids.

The bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli), is a single-celled prokaryote

Organism

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Organism is any organic, living system that functions as an individual entity.

Polypore fungi and angiosperm trees are large multicellular eukaryotes.

Precambrian stromatolites in the Siyeh Formation, Glacier National Park. In 2002, a paper in the scientific journal Nature suggested that these 3.5 Gya (billion years old) geological formations contain fossilized cyanobacteria microbes. This suggests they are evidence of one of the earliest known life forms on Earth.

LUCA may have used the Wood–Ljungdahl or reductive acetyl–CoA pathway to fix carbon.

There are also other kinds of biomolecules in cells.

Nucleotide

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Nucleotides are organic molecules consisting of a nucleoside and a phosphate.

Showing the arrangement of nucleotides within the structure of nucleic acids: At lower left, a monophosphate nucleotide; its nitrogenous base represents one side of a base-pair. At the upper right, four nucleotides form two base-pairs: thymine and adenine (connected by double hydrogen bonds) and guanine and cytosine (connected by triple hydrogen bonds). The individual nucleotide monomers are chain-joined at their sugar and phosphate molecules, forming two 'backbones' (a double helix) of nucleic acid, shown at upper left.

Structural elements of three nucleo tides —where one-, two- or three-phosphates are attached to the nucleo side (in yellow, blue, green) at center: 1st, the nucleotide termed as a nucleoside mono phosphate is formed by adding a phosphate (in red); 2nd, adding a second phosphate forms a nucleoside di phosphate; 3rd, adding a third phosphate results in a nucleoside tri phosphate. + The nitrogenous base (nucleobase) is indicated by "Base" and "glycosidic bond" (sugar bond). All five primary, or canonical, bases—the purines and pyrimidines—are sketched at right (in blue).

The synthesis of UMP. The color scheme is as follows: enzymes, <span style="color: rgb(219,155,36);">coenzymes, <span style="color: rgb(151,149,45);">substrate names , <span style="color: rgb(128,0,0);">inorganic molecules

The synthesis of IMP. The color scheme is as follows: enzymes, <span style="color: rgb(219,155,36);">coenzymes, <span style="color: rgb(151,149,45);">substrate names , <span style="color: rgb(227,13,196);">metal ions , <span style="color: rgb(128,0,0);">inorganic molecules

They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both of which are essential biomolecules within all life-forms on Earth.

Onion (Allium cepa) root cells in different phases of the cell cycle (drawn by E. B. Wilson, 1900)

Cell (biology)

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Basic structural and functional unit of life forms.

Detailed diagram of lipid bilayer of cell membrane

A fluorescent image of an endothelial cell. Nuclei are stained blue, mitochondria are stained red, and microfilaments are stained green.

Human cancer cells, specifically HeLa cells, with DNA stained blue. The central and rightmost cell are in interphase, so their DNA is diffuse and the entire nuclei are labelled. The cell on the left is going through mitosis and its chromosomes have condensed.

Prokaryotes divide by binary fission, while eukaryotes divide by mitosis or meiosis.

An outline of the catabolism of proteins, carbohydrates and fats

An overview of protein synthesis.
Within the nucleus of the cell (light blue), genes (DNA, dark blue) are transcribed into RNA. This RNA is then subject to post-transcriptional modification and control, resulting in a mature mRNA (red) that is then transported out of the nucleus and into the cytoplasm (peach), where it undergoes translation into a protein. mRNA is translated by ribosomes (purple) that match the three-base codons of the mRNA to the three-base anti-codons of the appropriate tRNA. Newly synthesized proteins (black) are often further modified, such as by binding to an effector molecule (orange), to become fully active.

Staining of a Caenorhabditis elegans highlights the nuclei of its cells.

Stromatolites are left behind by cyanobacteria, also called blue-green algae. They are the oldest known fossils of life on Earth. This one-billion-year-old fossil is from Glacier National Park in the United States.

Robert Hooke's drawing of cells in cork, 1665

Every cell consists of a cytoplasm enclosed within a membrane, which contains many biomolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids.

Diagrammatic representation of Watson and Crick's DNA structure

Molecular biology

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Diagrammatic representation of experiment

Two percent agarose gel in borate buffer cast in a gel tray.

Proteins stained on a PAGE gel using Coomassie blue dye.

Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including molecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions.

Glucose

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Simple sugar with the molecular formula C6H12O6.

Widely proposed arrow-pushing mechanism for acid-catalyzed dynamic equilibrium between the α- and β- anomers of D-glucopyranose

Glucose metabolism and various forms of it in the process.Glucose-containing compounds and isomeric forms are digested and taken up by the body in the intestines, including starch, glycogen, disaccharides and monosaccharides.Glucose is stored in mainly the liver and muscles as glycogen. It is distributed and used in tissues as free glucose.

Diagram showing the possible intermediates in glucose degradation; Metabolic pathways orange: glycolysis, green: Entner-Doudoroff pathway, phosphorylating, yellow: Entner-Doudoroff pathway, non-phosphorylating

Relative sweetness of various sugars in comparison with sucrose

Ultimately almost all biomolecules come from the assimilation of carbon dioxide in plants and microbes during photosynthesis.