Plant Structure & Storage

Learning Objectives
Recap how polysaccharides are formed Describe the roles of cellulose, starch and glycogen in plants and animals Explain how the structure of these polysaccharides relates to their function in plants and animals

Starter Questions
1. Which polysaccharide makes up plant cell walls? 2. Which monosaccharide makes up this polysaccharide? 3. Is this polysaccharide branched or unbranched?

Carbohydrates serve as fuel and building material

Carbohydrates include sugars and the polymers of sugars The simplest carbohydrates are monosaccharides, or single sugars Carbohydrate macromolecules are polysaccharides, polymers composed of many sugar building blocks
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Polysaccharides
Polysaccharides, the polymers of sugars, have storage and structural roles The structure and function of a polysaccharide are determined by its sugar monomers and the positions of glycosidic linkages

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Storage Polysaccharides
Starch, a storage polysaccharide of plants, consists entirely of glucose monomers Plants store surplus starch as granules within chloroplasts and other plastids

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Fig. 5-6

Chloroplast

Starch

Mitochondria Glycogen granules

0.5 m 1 m

Amylose Amylopectin

Glycogen

(a) Starch: a plant polysaccharide

(b) Glycogen: an animal polysaccharide

 Glycogen is a storage polysaccharide in animals Humans and other vertebrates store glycogen mainly in liver and muscle cells

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Structural Polysaccharides
The polysaccharide cellulose is a major component of the tough wall of plant cells Like starch, cellulose is a polymer of glucose, but the glycosidic linkages differ The difference is based on two ring forms for glucose: alpha () and beta ()

Animation: Polysaccharides
Copyright 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

Fig. 5-7

(a)

and glucose ring structures

Glucose

Glucose

(b) Starch: 14 linkage of

glucose monomers

(b) Cellulose: 14 linkage of

glucose monomers

 Polymers with glucose are helical Polymers with glucose are straight In straight structures, H atoms on one strand can bond with OH groups on other strands Parallel cellulose molecules held together this way are grouped into microfibrils, which form strong building materials for plants

Copyright 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

 Enzymes that digest starch by hydrolyzing linkages cant hydrolyze linkages in cellulose Cellulose in human food passes through the digestive tract as insoluble fiber Some microbes use enzymes to digest cellulose Many herbivores, from cows to termites, have symbiotic relationships with these microbes

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 Chitin, another structural polysaccharide, is found in the exoskeleton of arthropods Chitin also provides structural support for the cell walls of many fungi

Copyright 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

Fig. 5-10

(a) The structure of the chitin monomer.

(b) Chitin forms the

exoskeleton of arthropods.

(c) Chitin is used to make a strong and flexible

surgical thread.

Cellulose
Main structural polysaccharide in plants Structural component of plant cell walls Very strong = steel Also permeable to numerous substances About 33% of plant matter Most common organic compound on Earth

Cellulose
Hydrogen bonds form between adjacent chains of glucose monomers 60-70 cellulose molecules are cross-linked to form microfibrils Microfibrils are cross linked to form macrofibrils Embedded in pectin (polysaccharide) to form cell walls in plants

Why cant humans digest cellulose?

We dont produce Cellulase Ruminants, like cows, have symbiotic bacteria in their stomachs

Having cellular components made from different polysaccharides leads to variation

Starch
Amylose ( helix) 25% of starch Amylopectin (branched starch) 75%

Amylopectin

Amylopectin
Highly branched Can be hydrolysed more quickly than amylose -glucose molecules joined by 1-4 glycosidic bonds with 1-6 branches every 20-30 monomers Plants store it then hydrolyse it when they need a supply of energy

Glycogen
Same subunits as amylopectin but much more branched The storage sugar found in animals Made mostly by the liver & muscles Stored as granules in the cytoplasm of cells. Can be quickly hydrolysed when energy supply needed.

Question
1. Compare and contrast the structures of glycogen and cellulose, showing how each molecules structure is linked to its function. [10 marks]

Mark Scheme
[1] Gycogen is a chain of -glucose molecules [2] Cellulose chain of -glucose molecules [3] Glycogens chain is compact but very branched, whereas [4] Celluloses chain is very long, straight and unbranched [5] and these chains in cellulose are bonded to form fibres [6] Glycogens structure makes it a good food store in animals [7] The branches allow enzymes to access the glycosidic bonds [8] to break the food store down quickly [9] Celluloses structure makes it a good structure in cell walls [10] The fibres/ H bonds provide strength