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Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. [1] Although over 500 amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the 22 α-amino acids incorporated into proteins. [2] Only these 22 appear in the genetic code of life. [3][4]
CHNOPS. Graphic representation of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur. CHNOPS and CHON are mnemonic acronyms for the most common elements in living organisms. "CHON" stands for c arbon, h ydrogen, o xygen, and n itrogen, which together make up more than 95 percent of the mass of biological systems. [1] ".
Biological roles of the elements. A large fraction of the chemical elements that occur naturally on the Earth's surface are essential to the structure and metabolism of living things. Four of these elements (hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen) are essential to every living thing and collectively make up 99% of the mass of protoplasm. [1]
The understanding of proteins as polypeptides, or chains of amino acids, came through the work of Franz Hofmeister and Hermann Emil Fischer in 1902. [10] [11] The central role of proteins as enzymes in living organisms that catalyzed reactions was not fully appreciated until 1926, when James B. Sumner showed that the enzyme urease was in fact a ...
Carbon's widespread abundance, its ability to form stable bonds with numerous other elements, and its unusual ability to form polymers at the temperatures commonly encountered on Earth enables it to serve as a common element of all known living organisms. In a 2018 study, carbon was found to compose approximately 550 billion tons of all life on ...
Cellular respiration may be described as a set of metabolic reactions and processes that take place in the cells of organisms to convert chemical energy from nutrients into ATP, and then release waste products. [1] Cellular respiration is a vital process that occurs in the cells of all living organisms.
There are more than 300 amino acids found in nature of which only twenty two, known as the proteinogenic amino acids, are the building blocks for protein. [24] Only green plants and most microbes are able to synthesize all of the 20 standard amino acids that are needed by all living species.
Nucleic acids are large biomolecules that are crucial in all cells and viruses. [1] They are composed of nucleotides, which are the monomer components: a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. The two main classes of nucleic acids are deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA).