Instructor

Professor L. J. Kaplan

office: 227 BSC

phone: ext. 3303 or 3308 (research lab)

email: lkaplan@williams.edu

Course Description

Biochemistry I, an introduction to the structure and function of biological molecules, is designed to study the molecules and macromolecules in living systems through an application of the principles of organic and physical chemistry as well as molecular biology and genetics. This will include an examination of the structure of these molecules in detail in order to understand how their unique chemical and physical properties contribute to their biological function.

After an introduction to the basic concepts of biochemistry, the structure and function of proteins will be discussed. Special attention will be given to the methods and techniques of biochemistry and their application to proteins and nucleic acids. In order to illustrate these principles, a number of specific proteins will be discussed in detail.

The structures, specificities and mechanisms of action of selected enzymes will illustrate the enormous diversity of this group of catalytic molecules. The mechanism of action of a few enzymes will be studied in detail and general theories for the kinetic analysis of both single substrate and multisubstrate enzymes will be developed.

The structure and function of the nucleic acids will be discussed in some detail and the association of nucleic acids with proteins will introduce these important macromolecular interactions. Higher levels of organization of the genetic material will be introduced and the mechanism of DNA replication, repair, and recombination will be studied. A very brief introduction to transcription and RNA processing, translation and gene regulation will be presented.

Textbook and Laboratory Manual

Voet, D., Voet, J. G., and Pratt, C. W., Fundamentals of Biochemistry, Wiley, New York, 1999.

Kaplan, L. J. A Laboratory Manual for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology - An Investigation of b-Galactosidase, 2000.

Supplementary Material

Scopes, R. K., Protein Purification: Principles and Practice, Third edition, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1994. Good general reference for the procedures and techniques which will be used in the laboratory. Reference to the appropriate chapter is made for each experiment in the lab manual.

Robyt, J. F. and White, B. J., Biochemical Techniques, Waveland Press, Illinois, 1987. A source of theoretical and practical information on the techniques and procedures which will be employed in the laboratory.

Freifelder, D., Physical Biochemistry: Applications to Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, second edition, Freeman, 1982. While a little old, it provides useful discussions of biochemical techniques.

In order to explore some topics in greater depth, a number of references to the original and review literature will be given in class. A number of these articles will be on the reserve shelf in the Schow Science Library and should be consulted as the need and interest merit.

Multimedia

The text comes with a CD-ROM containing many interesting animations to illustrate the concepts of biochemistry. This should be consulted as needed. In addition, many web sites are available for specific topics in biochemistry. The syllabus for BIMO 321 has been expanded to provide reference to site appropriate to the material. Reference will be made to these sites at the appropriate time and they should be consulted to provide an additional dimension to the study of biochemistry.

Laboratory

The laboratory will involve experiments dealing with the isolation, purification and characterization of the enzyme b-galactosidase. The experiments have been designed to introduce the basic techniques used with biological macromolecules. Be sure to read the introductory material in the laboratory manual before the beginning of the laboratory program. Please note the information in the lab manual on the structure and content of the laboratory reports.

See a schedule for the laboratory program.

Evaluation

A mid-term and a final examination as well as two quizzes will be given. In addition, the answers to some of the problem sets will be collected and graded.

Attendance at all laboratory sessions and submission of all laboratory reports is required for completion of the course with a passing grade.

The dates of the exercises and the credit for each exercise will be as follows:

Mid-term Examination October 25 20%

Problem sets as indicated in class 10%

Quizzes as scheduled in class 20%

Laboratory work and reports as scheduled 20%

Final examination as scheduled by the Registrar 30%

Syllabus

See the expanded syllabus with many links to biochemistry/molecular biology sites.