We can't live on air and sunshine alone. The human body needs food and water to survive. A human can go for more than three weeks without food (Mahatma Gandhi survived 21 days of complete starvation), but water is a different story. At least 60% of the adult body is made of it and every living cell in the body needs it to keep functioning.
Scheme demonstrating the function of glycogen branching enzyme. In glycogen, every 10 to 14 glucose units, a side branch with an additional chain of glucose units occurs. The side chain attaches at carbon atom 6 of a glucose unit, an Î±-1,6-glycosidic bond. This connection is catalyzed by a branching enzyme, generally given the name Î±-glucan branching enzyme. A branching enzyme attaches a string of seven glucose units (with some minor variation to this number) to the carbon at the C-6 position on the glucose unit, forming the Î±-1,6-glycosidic bond.
Plants synthesize two types of polysaccharides, starch and cellulose. The glycosidic bonds between glucose units in plant starch are similar to those in animal glycogen. Accordingly, starch molecules are structurally similar, forming compact coils, and play a similar role in energy storage for plants.lthough cellulose is made with glucose, the glycosidic linkages between glucose monomers are different from the bonds in glycogen and starch. This unique bond structure causes cellulose chains to form linear flat strands instead of coils. The flat cellulose strands are able to form tightly packed bundles.