What is the primary structural difference between glycerophospholipids and triacylglycerols?
Explanation
The key difference between storage triacylglycerols and membrane glycerophospholipids lies at the C-3 position of the glycerol backbone. Triacylglycerols have a third fatty acid, making them nonpolar. Glycerophospholipids have a phosphate group linked to a polar head group, making them amphipathic and suitable for membranes.
Other questions
What is the common and defining feature of all biological lipids?
According to the simplified nomenclature for unbranched fatty acids, what does the abbreviation 18:1 signify?
In the alternative convention for naming polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which carbon is designated as the omega carbon and given the number 1?
What structural feature of unsaturated fatty acids prevents them from packing together as tightly as saturated fatty acids?
What are the simplest lipids constructed from fatty acids, also referred to as triglycerides or neutral fats?
What is a significant advantage of using triacylglycerols, rather than polysaccharides, as stored fuels?
Which class of membrane lipids is characterized by a backbone of sphingosine instead of glycerol?
What is the structural parent of all sphingolipids, formed when a fatty acid is attached in amide linkage to the amino group on C-2 of sphingosine?
Which of the following lipids are structural components of membranes, but not signals, cofactors, or pigments?
The deficiency of which enzyme is responsible for Niemann-Pick disease, leading to the accumulation of sphingomyelin?
What is the characteristic structural feature of sterols, such as cholesterol?
Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate, located in the inner face of plasma membranes, serves as a reservoir for which two intracellular messenger molecules?
Eicosanoids, which include prostaglandins, thromboxanes, and leukotrienes, are all derived from which 20-carbon polyunsaturated fatty acid?
Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin and ibuprofen block the formation of prostaglandins and thromboxanes by inhibiting which enzyme?
What is the primary function of Vitamin E, a class of lipids known as tocopherols?
Which of the following lipids are isoprenoids that function as lipophilic electron carriers in the oxidation-reduction reactions of mitochondria and chloroplasts?
What is the primary method used to extract neutral lipids like triacylglycerols from tissues?
In the technique of adsorption chromatography for separating lipids, what is the principle of elution?
What type of lipids are predominantly found in the thylakoid membranes of chloroplasts?
What is the structural composition of biological waxes?
The human blood groups O, A, and B are determined in part by the oligosaccharide head groups of which class of lipids?
Which vitamin is the precursor to the hormone calcitriol, which regulates calcium uptake and bone formation?
What is the collective name for prostaglandins, thromboxanes, and leukotrienes?
Which of the following is NOT one of the five general types of membrane lipids described in the chapter?