solar energy as the driving force for this global process (Fig. 1). All living organisms also require a source of nitrogen, which is necessary for the synthesis of amino acids, nucleotides, and other compounds. Plants can generally use either ammonia or nitrate as their sole source of nitrogen, but vertebrates must obtain nitrogen in the form
1. Carbohydrates are aldehyde or ketone compounds with multiple hydroxyl groups or substances that can yield such compounds on hydrolysis(p. 293) 1.1 Carbohydrates are the most abundant biomolecules on earth and have multiple roles in all forms of life. 1.1.1 Carbohydrates serve as energy stores (e.g., starch in plants, glycogen in animals), fuels (e.g., glucose), and metabolic intermediates (e.., ATP, many coenzymes)
1. Early studies on the peptide(protein) structure 1.1 The peptide(o=c-n-h) bond was found to be shorter than the C-N bond in a simple amine and atoms attached are coplanar. 1.1.1 This was revealed by X-ray diffraction studies of amino acids and of simple dipeptides and tripeptides
1. The nucleic acids, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), are polymers of nucleotide units 1.1 DNA consists of four kinds of deoxyribonucleotide units linked together through covalent bonds 1.1.1 Each nucleotide unit is made of a nitrogenous base (the various part in the four different deoxyribonucleotides), a pentose sugar and a phosphate group
1. Proteins are extremely versatile in function and crucial in virtually all biological processes. 1.1 Almost all chemical reactions occurring in living organisms are catalyzed by enzymes. 1.1.1 Many thousands of enzymes have been discovered, each catalyzing a different kind of chemical reaction
