Question

In three important classes of biologically important natural polymers are discussed. What are the three classes, what are the monomers used to form the polymers, and why are they biologically important.

Short answer

The three classes of biologically important natural polymers are proteins (amino acids), polysaccharides (monosaccharides) and nucleic acids (nucleotides)

Step-by-step solution

To find the monomers used to form Proteins

The three important classes of biological polymers are proteins, polysaccharides, and nucleic acids.

Proteins are macromolecules constructed from a set of twenty amino acids.

Each amino acid has an amino group attached to the central carbon atom and a carboxyl group. In addition to these two groups, a hydrogen atom is also attached to the central carbon atom and an R-group, i.e. a group by which the amino acids differ from each other.

From these amino acids, different organisms can create various products such as enzymes, hormones, antibodies, muscle fiber, spider webs, rhino horns, milk proteins, antibiotics, and countless other biologically active substances.

To find the monomers used to form Polysaccharides

Polysaccharides are complex carbohydrates in which the molecules are composed of a large number of simple sugars (monosaccharides).

They have two important roles in the living world - they form the cellular supply of the most important metabolic fuel, glucose, and ensure the structural strength of the cell as extracellular building blocks.

To find the monomers used to form Nucleic acids

Nucleic acids are a group of biological macromolecules whose function is to store genetic information and translate it into protein structure.

There are two types of nucleic acids in all cells of the living world: ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid.

Nucleic acids are polynucleotides, i.e., nucleotide polymers.

The building block of RNA is a ribonucleotide, which contains the sugar molecule ribose, phosphate, and one of the bases (adenine, cytosine, guanine, uracil). In DNA, the building block is deoxyribonucleotide, which contains the sugar molecule "-deoxyribose, phosphate, and one of the bases (adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine).

Hence proteins (amino acids), polysaccharides (monosaccharides) and nucleic acids (nucleotides).