amino acid sequences indicators of evolution chapter 16 lab

Compounds that have a nitrogen atom bonded to one side of a carbonyl group are classified as amides. Compounds containing a nitrogen atom bonded in a hydrocarbon framework are classified as amines. The addition of nitrogen into an organic framework leads to two families of molecules. Untreated, this can lead to an accumulation of phenylalanine, which can lead to intellectual disabilities. In this disease, the enzyme that catalyzes the first step in the degradation of the amino acid phenylalanine is not functional (Figure 5). One disease that is the result of an enzyme malfunction is phenylketonuria. Since the function of enzymes is so specific, the lack or malfunctioning of an enzyme can lead to serious health consequences. Each enzyme is only capable of speeding up one or a few very specific reactions or types of reactions. Enzymes do differ from other catalysts in how specific they are for their substrates (the molecules that an enzyme will convert into a different product). Like all catalysts, enzymes are not consumed during the reactions that they catalyze.

Most reactions catalyzed by enzymes have rates that are millions of times faster than the noncatalyzed version. Enzymes function by lowering the activation energy of the reaction they are catalyzing, which can dramatically increase the rate of the reaction. Enzymes are highly specific catalysts they speed up the rates of certain reactions. Proteins contain at least one long polypeptide chain.Įnzymes are large biological molecules, mostly composed of proteins, which are responsible for the thousands of metabolic processes that occur in living organisms. (Figure 4) A chain of connected amino acids is called a polypeptide. Since each of the original amino acids has an unreacted group (one has an unreacted amine and the other an unreacted carboxylic acid), more peptide bonds can form to other amino acids, extending the structure. The resulting bond-between the carbonyl group carbon atom and the amine nitrogen atom is called a peptide link or peptide bond. The formation of the bond results in the production of a molecule of water (in general, reactions that result in the production of water when two other molecules combine are referred to as condensation reactions). Amino acids connect by the formation of a peptide bond, which is a covalent bond formed between two amino acids when the carboxylic acid group of one amino acid reacts with the amine group of the other amino acid. Most living things build proteins from the same 20 different amino acids. Amino acids are organic molecules that contain an amine functional group (–NH 2), a carboxylic acid functional group (–COOH), and a side chain (that is specific to each individual amino acid).

Amino acid sequences indicators of evolution chapter 16 lab