2-9 Lipids are the building blocks of membranes

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• Membranes have lipids as their major constituent.
• Lipids contain a glycerol backbone. To this backbone are attached a polar group and two long-chain fatty acids.

Lipids are molecules with two personalities. One part of the molecule wants to associate with water and the other does not. Molecules with these properties are termed amphipathic. Figure 2-18 shows that the backbone of the lipid consists of a three-carbon glycerol molecule. Hydrophhobic, long-chain fatty acids attach to two hydroxyl groups on the glycerol. To the third hydroxyl group, a polar, and therefore hydrophilic, group is attached. Many bacteria contain phospholipids in which this third group contains a phosphate connected to a carbon molecule. The amphipathic nature of lipids is important in their function in the cell.

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