ABSTRACT
Polysaccharides Polysaccharides are large chains of sugar units joined together. Depending on the polysaccharide, the chains may be linear or branched. In animals, excess glucose is stored as a large branched polysaccharide called glycogen, whereas in most plants the storage form of glucose is the polysaccharide called starch. Bacteria and yeasts store glucose as yet another type of polysaccharide called dextran. In each case these are nutritional reserves; when required, they are broken down and the monosaccharide products are metabolized to yield energy (Section J3). In contrast, cellulose is a structural polysaccharide used to make plant cell walls.
