Biochemistry Terminology: Amino Acids, Proteins, and Separation Techniques, Quizzes of Biochemistry

Download Biochemistry Terminology: Amino Acids, Proteins, and Separation Techniques and more Quizzes Biochemistry in PDF only on Docsity! TERM 1 amino acids DEFINITION 1 the building blocks of proteins TERM 2 chiral center DEFINITION 2 an atom with substituents arranged so that the molecule is not superposable on its mirror image TERM 3 enantiomers DEFINITION 3 sterioisomers that are nonsuperposable mirror images of each other TERM 4 absolute configuration DEFINITION 4 the configuration of four different substituent groups around an asymmetric carbon atom, in relatino to D- and L- glyceraldehyde TERM 5 polarity DEFINITION 5 1) in chemistry, the non-uniform distribution of electrons in a molecule; polar molecules are usually soluble in water (2) in molecular biology, the distinction between the 5' and 3' ends of nucleic acids TERM 6 zwitterion DEFINITION 6 a dipolar ion with spatially separated positive and negative charges TERM 7 isoelectric pH (isoelectric point pl) DEFINITION 7 the pH at which a solute has no net electric charge and thus does not move in an electric field TERM 8 peptide DEFINITION 8 two or more amino acids covalently joined by peptide bonds TERM 9 protein DEFINITION 9 a macromolecule composed of one or more polypeptide chanis, each with a characterisitic sequence of amino acids linked by peptide bonds TERM 10 peptide bond DEFINITION 10 a substituted amide linkage between th alpha-amino group of one amino acid and the alpha-carboxyl group of another, with the elimination of the elements of water TERM 21 size-exclusion chromatography DEFINITION 21 also called gel filtration, separates proteins according to size TERM 22 affinity chromatography DEFINITION 22 a method of separating biochemical mixtures and based on a highly specific interaction such as that between antigen and antibody, enzyme and substrate, or receptor and ligand. TERM 23 high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) DEFINITION 23 makes use of high-pressure pumps that speed the movement of the protein molecules down the column, as well as higher- quality chromatographic materials that can withstand the crushing force of the pressurzed flow TERM 24 electrophoresis DEFINITION 24 movement of charged solutes in response to an electrical field; often used to separate mixtures of ions, proteins, or nucleic acids TERM 25 isoelectric focusing DEFINITION 25 an electrophoretic method for separating macromolecules on the basis of isoelectric pH TERM 26 primary structure DEFINITION 26 a description of the covalent backbone of a polymer, including the sequence of monomeric subunits and any interchain and intrachain covalent bonds TERM 27 secondary structure DEFINITION 27 the local spatial arrangement of the main-chain atoms in a segment of a polypeptide chain; also applied to polynucleotide structure TERM 28 tertiary structure DEFINITION 28 the three-dimensional conformation of a polymer in its native folded state TERM 29 quaternary structure DEFINITION 29 the three-dimensional structure of a multisubunit protein, particularly the manner in which the subunits fit together TERM 30 Edman degradation DEFINITION 30 a method of sequencing amino acids in a peptide TERM 31 proteases DEFINITION 31 any enzyme that conducts proteolysis, that is, begins protein catabolism by hydrolysis of the peptide bonds that link amino acids together in the polypeptide chain forming the protein. TERM 32 consensus sequence DEFINITION 32 a DNA or amino acid sequence consisting of the residues that must commonly occur at each position in a set of similar sequences TERM 33 bioinformatics DEFINITION 33 the computerized analysis of biological data, using methods derived from statistics, linguistics, mathematics, chemistry, biochemistry, and physics. The data are often nucleic acid or protein sequence or structural data, but can also involve experimental data from many sources, patient statistics, and materials in the scientific literature. TERM 34 lateral gene transfer DEFINITION 34 rare transfer of a gene or group of genes from one organism to another TERM 35 homologous proteins DEFINITION 35 protens having similar sequences and functions in different species; for example, the hemoglobins