BIOMOLECULES AND ENZYMES

BIOLOGY

AMINO ACIDS

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Identify the amino acids containing nonpolar, aliphatic R groups.
A
Phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan
B
glycine, alanine, leucine
C
lysine, histidine and arginine
D
aspartate, glutamate
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -a) Amino acids with non-polar or hydrophobic, aliphatic R groups. This group of amino acids includes glycine, alanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine and proline.

Detailed explanation-2: -Aliphatic R groups are nonpolar and hydrophobic. Hydrophobicity increases with increasing number of C atoms in the hydrocarbon chain. Although these amino acids prefer to remain inside protein molecules, alanine and glycine are ambivalent, meaning that they can be inside or outside the protein molecule.

Detailed explanation-3: -Leucine is an -amino acid, meaning it contains an -amino group (which is in the protonated −NH3+ form under biological conditions), an -carboxylic acid group (which is in the deprotonated −COO− form under biological conditions), and a side chain isobutyl group, making it a non-polar aliphatic amino acid.

Detailed explanation-4: -Answer and Explanation: The R-group of leucine is a nonpolar R-group because it is made up of Carbon and Hydrogen atoms. Basically, the R-group of leucine is known as hydrocarbon which is nonpolar because it has no dipole moment.

Detailed explanation-5: -Glycine is a nonpolar amino acid. It is the simplest of the 20 natural amino acids; its side chain is a hydrogen atom. Because there is a second hydrogen atom at the ± carbon, glycine is not optically active. Since glycine has such a small side chain, it can fit into many places where no other amino acid can.

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