The Configurations of Glycogen and Cellulose Dictate Their Roles

The Configurations of Glycogen and Cellulose Dictate Their Roles 

It is a remarkable fact that the main energy-storage polysaccharides and the main structural polysaccharides found in nature both have a primary structure of (l,4)-linked polyglucose. Why should two such closely related compounds be used in totally different roles A closer look at the stereochemistry of the a and /3 glycosidic linkage for polyglucose indicates why this is so. 

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