Proteins

• Proteins make up greater than 50% of an organism's biomass
• Most proteins end in "-lin"
• Most enzymes end in "-ase"
• Amino acids are the monomers of proteins
• There are twenty different amino acids used to make proteins
• Amino acids are comprised of a carboxyl end, amine end, alpha carbon, and r group
• The Carboxyl end (COOH) acts as an acid because it can release a hydrogen ion
• The Amine end (NH2) can act as a base by accepting a hydrogen ion
• The Alpha carbon is the central carbon atom to which all of the other functional groups are attached
• The R group is the only part that is different in the twenty different amino acids. They give amino acids their distinctive properties
• Individual amino acids are bonded together by a covalent bond called a peptide bond
• In order to create a peptide bond, the amino end of one amino acid is position to combine with the Carboxyl end of the second amino acid. The amino acids are joined during dehydration synthesis
• Two amino acids bonded together are referred to as a dipeptide
• A polypeptide chain is a long chain of amino acids joined together by peptide bonds