Answer to Question #300195 in Biochemistry for Kristina

Question

1. what is the physiological significance of branching in polysaccharides

Answer 1

Having a great deal of branching ensures that plants and animals can quickly add to their energy supply when energy is plentiful, or break it down the storage molecules when energy is in short supply. It also allows tighter packaging of the polysaccharide. It creates more non-reducing ends for rapid access to glucose. It forces the glycosidic linkages to be all α−conformation.