GENERAL BIOLOGY 1

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ELEMENT SYMBOL FUNCTIONS

Carbon C  18% of human body mass.
 Helps in cellular respiration.
 Main components of organic
compounds
Hydrogen H  10% of human body mass.
 Essential in energy production.
 H+ ions can be used as a proton
pump to produce ATP.

Oxygen O  Most abundant element in the

body.
 61-65% of human body mass.
 Used for cellular respiration.
Nitrogen N  3% of human body mass.
 Key element for proteins, nucleic
acids, and other organic
molecules.
Calcium Ca  1.5% of human body mass.
 Gives skeletal system its rigidity
and
 strength
 Found in bones and teeth
 Important for muscle functions.

Phosphorus P  1.2-1.5% of human body mass.

 Important for bone structure.
 Primary energy molecule in the
body.
 Major component of nucleic acids.

Sulfur S  0.20-0.25% of human body mass.

 Important component of amino
acids and proteins.

MINERALS  Other elements that are found in the body in little amounts.
 Essential for growth and maintenance of the body.
 Includes silicon, chlorine, manganese, cobalt, copper and zinc.

TRACE MINERALS  Elements that are indispensable to life but is required in extremely
minute amounts.
 Ex. Iron and Iodine
 Iron deficiency – Anemia
 Iodine deficiency – Goiter or Hypothyroidism/ Hyperthyroidism
BIOMOLECULES  Essential molecules for all living organisms.
 Have unique characteristics and properties that show how they contribute to the
structure and functions of the cells.
ELEMENTS  Simplest form of a substance.
 Cannot be broken down into simpler form.
 25 of the natural elements are essential to life.
 98-99% of the body is composed of seven major elements namely Carbon, Oxygen,
Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Calcium and Sulfur.
COMPOUNDS  A substance composed of 2 or more elements that are chemically bonded together.
 Can be classified into Inorganic and Organic.
 Ex. Water (H2O), Salt (NaCl)
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INORGANIC  PROPERTIES:
 Generally solid with high melting points
 Mostly are soluble in water
 Conducts electricity
 Most inorganic compounds are not combustible
 Undergo fast chemical reaction
 Forces between molecules are strong
 Mostly ionic bonding
ORGANIC  PROPERTIES:
 Gases, liquids or solid with low melting points
 Mostly insoluble in water
 Does not conduct electricity
 Almost all compounds are combustible
 Reactions are usually slow
 Forces between molecules are weak
 Mostly covalent bonding
CHEMICAL  IONIC BOND
BONDING  Attraction between oppositely charged atoms.
 Cation and Anion
 Compounds formed by ionic bonds are called IONIC COMPOUNDS or SALTS
 COVALENT BOND
 Form when two atoms share one or more pairs of valence electrons
 Two atoms held together by covalent bonds constitute a MOLECULE.
 HYDROGEN BONDS ()
 Sharing of H atom
 These bonds form between the partially negative O atoms and partially positive H atoms
of 2 water molecules
 Weak chemical bonds
 Important to DNA and Protein structure
 VAN DER WAALS INTERACTIONS
 Occurs when atoms are very close together.
 When many of those interactions occur simultaneously, they can be powerful.
 Reason why a gecko lizard can walk straight up a wall.
INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
WATER  WATER- The versatile solvent
 Dissolves an enormous variety of solutes necessary for living.
 When water is in liquid form, its hydrogen bonds are very weak. The hydrogen bonds
form, break and re-form with great frequency.

CHARACTERISTICS AND FUNCTIONS OF WATER

1. BIOLOGICAL SOLVENT
 Ability to dissolve many substances including essential molecules in the body.
2. HIGH HEAT CAPACITY
 The unique ability of water to be resistant to an immediate increase in temperature.
 Helps in maintaining a constant body temperature.
 Characteristics and Functions of Water
3. High Heat of Vaporization
 The quantity of heat a liquid must absorb for 1g of it to be converted from the liquid to
the gaseous state.
 Helps in preventing dehydration in an organism.
4. High Heat of fusion
 Protects living organism to freeze under low temperature.
 5. Medium for chemical and physical processes
 Can serve as a place for exchanging gases and nutrients and elimination of wastes.
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6. Means of Transport
 Can serve as a transporter/vehicle in the distribution of nutrients, gases and collection of
waste products all over the body.
7. Surface Tension
 A measure of how difficult it is to stretch or break the surface of a liquid.
ACID  PROPERTIES:
 Have sour taste
 Turn blue litmus paper to red
 A substance that increases the hydrogen ion concentration of a solution.
 When acids are combined with water, it can release hydrogen ions (H+).
Examples:
 HCL, Citric acid, Ascorbic acid, acetic acid, and carbonic acid
BASE  PROPERTIES:
 Have bitter taste and slippery
 Turn red litmus paper to blue.
 A substance that decreases the hydrogen ion concentration of a solution.
 When bases are combined with water, it can release hydroxide ions (OH-)
Examples:
 Sodium hydroxide, household bleach and seawater
ELECTROLYTES /  Inorganic compounds that conducts electricity within the body.
SALTS  Important in maintaining cell membrane voltages and sending electrical impulses for
/ IONS muscle contraction.
 Produced when an acid combine with a base.
Example:
 NaOH + HCl  NaCl + H2O
CARBON DIOXIDE  Inorganic Compound essential for plants to perform photosynthesis.
 A waste product from the breakdown of glucose.
 By-product in the production of ethanol through the process of fermentation and the
combustion of fossil fuels.
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
CLASSIFICATION  Based on the functional group found in the atom
 Based on skeletal carbon structure of the compound.
 Aliphatic compounds – groups are linked to a straight or branch carbon chain.
 Aromatic compounds- groups linked to a particular type of six-carbon ring that
contains three alternating double bonds.
 Heterocyclic compounds - ring structure with or without the alternating double-bond
structure of aromatic compounds in which one member is an element other than carbon.
 Alicyclic compounds – possess a close or ring structure with carbon and hydrogen
atoms.
ORGANIC General Formula – it represents the entire series of compounds.
FORMULAS  Example:
 Alkane: CnH2n+2
 Where n = is the number of atoms
Molecular Formula: it gives the actual number of each kind of atom present in a
compound
Structural Formula: it shows the relative positions and correct valences of all atoms in the
compound. (Line-angle formula or skeletal formula)
Condensed Structural Formula: it is the shorthand convention for writing structural
formulas.
HYDROCARBONS  The compounds containing only hydrogen and carbon.
 Two types: saturated and unsaturated.
 There are two classes of hydrocarbons, aromatic and aliphatic.
 Aliphatic compounds: Alkanes, Alkenes and alkynes.
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NOMENCLATURE  The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is the organization that
AND STRUCTURE sets the rules for nomenclature of organic compounds today. Names that follow IUPAC
rules are known as systematic names or IUPAC names.
RULES
ALKANES STEP 1: Find the parent hydrocarbon
 Find the longest continuous carbon chain present in the molecule and use the name of
that chain as the parent name.
STEP 2: Number the atoms in the main chain
 Begin numbering at the end nearer the first branch point.
STEP 3: identify and number the substituent
 assign number to each substitute according to its point of attachment to the parent
chain.
STEP 4: Write the name as a single word
 Use HYPENS to separate the different prefixes, and COMMAS to separate numbers.
 Cite them in alphabetical order if two or more substituents are present.
 if two or more identical substituents are present use one of the multiplier prefixes: DI-
(2), TRI- (3), and TETRA- (4)
STEP 5: Name a complex substituent as though it were itself a compound
FORMAT: Location + Substituent + Base name= Organic compound
ALKENES STEP 1: Use IUPAC for naming Alkanes as starting point
 Identify the longest chain of carbon atoms that contain double bonds
 Name the longest chain as an alkane, then convert the suffix –ane to –ene
 Number the longest chain to give the carbon atoms of the double bond the SMALLEST
POSSIBLE NUMBER
 Name and number any substituents as is done for alkanes.
ALKYNES  Select the longest carbon atom chain containing a triple bond
 Name the longest chain as an alkane, then convert the suffix –ane to –yne
 Number the carbon atoms in the chain so that the triple bond would be between the
carbons with lowest designated number
MACROMOLECULES
Organic compounds are also known as macromolecules.
Monomers vs. Polymers
* Monomer is the individual units in macromolecules
* Polymers are chains of repeating units of monomers linked together
PROTEINS  Most abundant organic compounds found in any living organism.
 Greek word proteos meaning “first place”.
 Composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. Some also contain sulfur and
phosphorus.
Functions:
 For growth and repair of tissues
 component of cell membrane
 play a major role in chemical reactions as enzymes, in the protection of the body as
antibodies.
 They are polymers made up of monomers called amino acids.
Amino acids
 is a small organic compound containing:
- amine group (-NH2)
- carboxyl group (acid)
- side chain called “R group”
 they are united by means of peptide linkage to form polypeptide chains
There are 2 Groups of amino acids namely:
1. Non-essential amino acids
- alanine, serine, glycine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, proline, hydroxyproline, citrulline,
tyrosine, norleucine and hydroxy glutamic acid
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2. Essential amino acids

- histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, valine and
trypthopan
 There are seven (7) major classes of proteins:
1. Structural protein
- Fiber that makes up the tendons and ligaments
2. Contractile protein
- Proteins that provide muscular movement
3. Storage protein
- Such as ovalbumin, main substance of egg white.
4. Defensive protein
- Promote protection against foreign bodies
5. Transport protein
- Includes hemoglobin, iron-containing protein in the blood that transports oxygen to
the lungs to the other parts of the body.
6. Signal protein
- Such as hormones which help coordinate body activities
7. Enzymatic protein
- Serves as the chemical catalyst that changes the rate of chemical reaction
FOUR STRUCTURES OF PROTEINS
 Primary protein structure
Shows the sequence of amino acid chain
The primary structure is attached together by peptide bonds
 Secondary protein structure
Highly regular local sub-structure that can take the form of an alpha helix or a beta
strand
Structures are defined by hydrogen bonds between the main chain peptide bonds
 Tertiary protein structure
3D shape of polypeptide by a pattern of folding
The alpha-helices and beta-sheets are folded into a compact globule
 Quaternary protein structure
The arrangement of of multiple folded protein or coiling protein molecules in a multi-
subunit complex.
NUCLEIC ACIDS  Nucleic acids are macromolecules that store genetic information and enable protein
production
 The monomer of nucleic acids is nucleotides
 Nucleotides are composed of a nitrogenous base, five-carbon sugar, and a phosphate
group
 Nucleic acids include DNA and RNA. These molecules are composed of long strands
of nucleotides.
 The elemental composition of nucleic acids are:
Carbon
Hydrogen
Oxygen
Nitrogen (15-16%)
Phosphorus (9-10%)
Nucleosides
 They are compounds in which the sugar (ribose or deoxyribose) linked to a base
(purine or pyrimidine)
Sugar (Pentose)
 The Pentose sugar in DNA differs from sugar in RNA by the absence of hydroxyl group
(-OH) on the second carbon of the sugar ring.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)
 This is the chromosomal material containing the genetic information of all living cells
 commonly exists as a double stranded molecule with a twisted helix shape
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 it composed of a phosphate-deoxyribose sugar backbone and the four nitrogenous

bases (A=T, G=C)
Ribonucleic Acid (RNA)
 Essential for the protein synthesis
 Single-stranded nucleic acid
 it composed of phosphate-ribose sugar backbone and the nitrogenous bases (A=U,
G=C)
3 Types of RNA
1. Messenger RNA (mRNA)
- RNA copy of the DNA message produced during DNA Transcription, mRNA is
translated to form proteins.
2. Transfer RNA (tRNA)
- It serves to bind and carry the activated amino acids to the ribosomes and serves
as adapter for translating genetic code words of mRNA into amino acid sequence.
3. Ribosomal RNA (rRNA)
- The major component of ribosomes involved in protein synthesis
The ‘Central Dogma’
The central dogma of molecular biology explains the flow of genetic information, from
DNA, to RNA, to make a functional product PROTEIN
3 STEPS IN PROTEIN FORMATION IN CELL
 REPLICATION – the process by which an exact copy of DNA is made when cell
divides.
 TRANSCRIPTION – the process by which the genetic messages contained DNA are
transcribed, and the product is RNA
 TRANSLATION – the process by which the genetic messages carried by RNA are
decoded and used to build proteins. This is to break the sequence into triplets
For translation please refer to codon chart below
CARBOHYDRATES  Are macromolecules that provide energy to the body, particularly through glucose
 Consist of Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen atoms in 1:2:1 ratio.
 are polyhydroxy aldehydes or polyhydroxy ketones
Polyhydroxy – Alcohol groups (OH)
Aldehyde – CHO functional group
Ketone- C=O functional group
 Subtypes:
Monosaccharides
Oligosaccharides
Polysaccharides
Monosaccharides
 The number of carbon usually ranges from 3 to 6
 Most of the name of monosaccharides end with the suffix –ose
 Can either have aldehyde group (aldose) or ketone group (ketose)
 Isomers in Monosaccharides
 Isomers - Are compounds that have the same chemical formula but different structural
formula.
Important Monosaccharides
 Glucose (Most important monosaccharide) - Dextrose or Blood sugar
 Galactose (Constituent of cerebrosides) -Milk sugar
 Fructose (The sweetest sugar) -Fruit sugar

Disaccharides
 form when 2 monosaccharides undergo dehydration synthesis
 Covalent bond forming glycosidic linkages
 Important Disaccharides
 Maltose- Malt sugar (combination of two glucose)
 Sucrose- Table sugar (combination of glucose and fructose)
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 Lactose- Milk sugar (combination of galactose and glucose)

 Polysaccharides
 Are complex sugars made up of chains and/or branches of monasaccharides bonded
by glycosidic linkages
Two Types of Polysaccharides
 Storage Polysaccharides
Starch- Is a plant carbohydrate storage that is composed entirely of alpha glucose
molecules
 Can be an AMYLOSE or AMYLOPECTIN
 Amylose is simple and outer layer of starch
 Amylopectin is more complex and is the inner layer of starch
Glycogen-Serves as animal carbohydrate storage and can be easily broken down into
glucose molecules when needed
 Structural Polysaccharides
 Cellulose- Is the most abundant biopolymer
 Found in the cell wall of plants and is highly insoluble as it provides structural support
to the cell
 Chitin- Is the major component of fungal cell wall and is also found in the outer
coverings of crustaceans and insects for protection and support
Oligosaccharides
 Combination of monosaccharides + disaccharides or
 monosaccharides + monosaccharides + disaccharides
 Raffinose = Galactose + Glucose + Fructose
 Stachyose = Galactose + Galactose + Glucose + Fructose
LIPIDS What are Lipids?
 Lipids are organic compounds that contain hydrocarbons which are the foundation for
the structure and function of living cells.
 The word lipids means greasy or fat-like
 Composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen with no definite ratio.
 Lipids are nonpolar so they are soluble in nonpolar solvents like ether, chloroform,
benzene and acetone.
 Lipids are all insoluble in polar solvents like water.
 Lipids are a heterogeneous compounds
Functions:
 Store and produce energy
 serve as insulating materials to prevent heat loss and protection against extreme cold
 serve as solvent for fat-soluble vitamins and hormones
 prevent water loss in the skin
Classification of Lipids
 Simple Lipids (Triglycerides)
 - ester formed after the reaction of fatty acids with various alcohols.
 Fats
 These are glyceryl esters of higher fatty acids
 These are trimester of fatty acids and glycerol
 They are also called glycerides.
 Oils are also known as liquid fats.
Saturated fatty acids
 Do not contain double bonds between carbons
 Characteristic of animal fats
 Solid at room temperature
 Excess of these may lead to cholesterol deposits leading to cardiovascular disease
Unsaturated fatty acids
 Those that contain double bonds between some of the carbon atoms
 Liquid state at room temperature
 Characteristics of vegetable fats
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 Less hazardous as far as health is concerned

Waxes- esters of fatty acids and alcohols other than glycerol
 - They are solid at room temperature and generally similar in composition to fats and
oils except they do not contain glycerides.
 Common Properties:
 * water repellancy * smooth texture
B. Compound Lipids
 Ester of fatty acids containing other groups in addition to alcohols and fatty acids.
 Phospholipids- with phosphoric acid (H3PO4)
 Glycolipids- with carbohydrates
 Lipoproteins- with proteins
C. Derived Lipids
 Substances derived from group 1 and 2 by hydrolysis
 Steroids- composed of interconnected carbon rings
 ex. Cholesterol, Testosterone, Estrogen

Prepared by:

MR. ALFRED N. GERONIMO

SUBJECT TEACHER