in this video, we're going to talk about carbohydrate functions. And so it turns out that carbohydrates are structurally and functionally diverse, meaning that they could do so many different things for the cell because they can take on so many different types of structures. However, that being said, really, there are just two main functions that you all should be aware of when it comes to carbohydrate functions, and so the first function that you all should be aware of is structural support. And so some carbohydrates are used specifically to build the structures of cells and the structures either within cells or on the outside of cells. For example, cellulose and chitin are two classic examples of some Polly sack rides that air used for structural support, and there are some others as well. For example, Petito go, I can might be one that you may or may not have heard of, but we're going to focus specifically on cellulose and chitin now, the second primary main function that you should know that carbohydrates have is energy storage, and so carbohydrates are specifically used for short term energy storage and so they can provide energy to living cells So, for example, starch and glycogen are both examples of carbohydrates that air used for short term energy storage. So let's take a look at our example down below to focus in on the poly. Sacha rides that air in plants and animals and the functions that they have. So notice that we have this, uh, image down below of this grid where the first column we have the function. Whether is structural support like this Bob the builder guy or energy storage like these batteries over here. And then we have the poly sacha rides that air found specifically in plants here in this, uh, column and the poly sacraments that have found specifically in animals over here in this column. And so notice that we're showing you to structural support, uh, carbohydrates, one in plants and one in animals. And we're also showing you to energy storage, uh, carbohydrates once again, one in plants and one and animals. So it's a nice little grid here. So when we're talking about structural support, a classic example of a poly sack right and plant that's used for structural support is cellulose, and so cellulose is actually the most abundant carbohydrate that's found in plant cell walls. And so when we take a look at plants like this leaf right here and we zoom in on its structure, which will notice is that the cell walls of these plants contain cellulose, and so it's used to build cell walls. And that's why it is structural support now, a structural support, uh, carbohydrate in animals, eyes going to be what we see over here, which is chitin and soak. Iten is a structural support carbohydrate that's found in the exo skeletons of insects and crustaceans such as lobsters. And so, if we were to zoom into the exoskeleton shell here of this lobster, we would see that Kite Newton would be found within its structure. And so kite structure is complex, and we don't really need to worry about its particular structure so much. Just knowing that Kitten is an example of a structural support carbohydrate that's used to build the structures of exoskeletons and then, in terms of energy storage, we're showing you tua's well over here. In plants, plants mainly store their energy in the form of starch, and so starch is going to be, uh, the storage form of glucose specifically in plants, and you'll find lots and lots of starch inside of potatoes like this one over here on then. Over here, what we have is an animal liver and in animals, uh, the They store their energy in the form of glycogen. And so glycogen is a poly sacha ride or carbohydrate whose main function is to store glucose in animal cells. And so this here concludes our introduction to carbohydrate functions, and we'll be able to get some practice applying these concepts in our next few videos, so I'll see you all there.
