Energy source + provides structural support
Sugars are among the most important energy storage molecules
Simplest of carbohydrates = monosaccharides (single sugar) Because carbohydrates contain many
- Simple sugars contain as few as 3 Carbons C-H bonds, which release energy when
oxidation occurs.
Sugars that play a central role in energy storage have 6
Carbons
When 6 carbon sugars are dissolved in water, they form rings.
Glucose – most important 6 carbon sugar for energy storage.
Orientation of the Carbonyl group (C=O) depends whether the closed ring is:
- Alpha glucose α ( af the C=O is at the bottom )
- Beta glucose β ( bo the C=O is at the top )
Disaccharides = 2 sugars
- Serve as transport molecules in plants
- Provides nutrition in animals
- Serve as effective reservoirs of glucose because thee enzymes that normally use glucose in
the organism cannot break the bond linking the two monosaccharides
Polysaccharides
- Provide energy storage + structural components
- Made up of monomers linked together by dehydration reactions (glycosidic bonds)
- Starch = a storage polysaccharide consists of long α-glucose molecules chains linked
- Cellulose = structural polysaccharide consists of β-glucose molecules linked in chains
Starches & Glycogen
- Maltose are linked together into the insoluble polysaccharide called starch
- Amylose = starch with simplest structures
composed of hundreds of α-glucose molecules in a long, unbranched chain
- Starch = composed of amylose + amylopectin
Pectin = branched polysaccharides
In plants with branches occurring due to
α (1 – 6) linkages
- Glycogen = contains branched amylose chains
In animals The branches
- Glycogen has a much longer average chain than starch formed are
insoluble
, Cellulose
- Serve as structural material for cells
- A polymer of β-glucose
- β (1 - 4) linkages
- Cellulose is unbranched and forms long fibers
Cellulose fibers can be very strong and are quite resistant to metabolic breakdown
Chitin
- Structural material found in arthropods and many fungi
- A polymer of N – acetylglycosamine ( a nitrogen-containing derivative of glucose)
- When cross linked by proteins, it forms a tough, resistant surface material that serves as the
hard exoskeleton of insects and crustaceans
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