Becker's World of the Cell 9th Edition by Lewis Kleinsmith, Jeff Hardin, Gregory Paul Bertoni

Exercise 9

Storage Polysaccharides. The only common examples of branched-chain polymers in cells are the storage polysaccharides glycogen and amylopectin. Both are degraded exolytically, which means by stepwise removal of terminal glucose units.
(a)Why might it be advantageous for a storage polysaccharide to have a branched-chain structure instead of a linear structure
(b)Can you foresee any metabolic complications in the process of glycogen degradation How do you think the cell handles this
(c)Can you see why cells that degrade amylose instead of amylopectin have enzymes capable of endolytic (internal)as well as exolytic cleavage of glycosidic bonds
(d)Why do you suppose the structural polysaccharide cellulose does not contain branches