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Cellulose and starch are both polymers of glucose yet most mammals can use starch but not cellulose as a source of fuel?
Wiki User
∙ 15y ago
mammals have very specific enzymes, one that breaks down starch and another that breaks down glycogen. however, the human digestive system does not have an enzyme to break down the polymer cellulose. cellulose is a straight-chain polysaccharide with glucose-glucose linkages different from those in starch or glycogen. some herbavores such as cattle, rabbits, termites, and giraffes have specially developped stomachs and intestines that hold enzyme-producing bacteria or protozoa to aid in the breakdown of cellulose. it is the different glucose-glucose linkages that make cellulose different from starch. recall that, when glucose forms a ring structure, the functional groups attached to the ring are fixed in a certain orientation above or below the ring. our enzymes are specific to the orientation of the functional groups, and cannot break down the glucose-glucose linkages found in cellulose.
Wiki User
∙ 15y ago
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Is glucose a protein or fatty acid?
Glucose is not a protein. Glucose is classified as a carbohydrate or a sugar. Glucose is the substance that mammals derive most of their energy from.
What is the difference between lactose and galactose?
galactose and lactose is the same galactose is found in the milk of mammals and even lactose is present in the milk of mammals
What breathes in oxygen and breathes out carbon dioxide?
Mammals(:
How can you dye seal shells?
Seals are a mammals and give birth to live young. They do not lay eggs.
Why is the ocean water not a pure substance?
Many marine mammals, amphibians, and fishes defecate in that water on a regular basis.
Is cellulose produced by plants insects or mammals?
Plants
What is the name of the chamber in the digestive tract of grazing mammals in which cellulose is broken down?
rumen
Which organisms can digest cellulose and how they are able to do this?
Micro-organisms, such as bacteria, are able to digest cellulose. No mammals are able to digest cellulose. This is because cellulose contains a β(1,4) linkage that no mammalian enzyme can break. This is why herbivores must have symbiotic bacteria somewhere in their digestive system that help them break down cellulose.
What is an adaptation that enables hoofed mammals to break down the cellulose of plant cell walls into nutrients?
cud chewing
The Cecum contains microorganisms which digest cellulose.Why would the presence of these microorganisms be important in the process of digestion?
Herbivorous mammals don't secrete the enzymes required to digest cellulose. They sub-contract the work of cellulose digestion to guest bacteria. The bacteria are provided with a home and lots of food in exchange. Humans don't do this. We have no capacity to digest cellulose. The appendix is the remnant of the Caecum in the human.
What mammals eat logs?
No mammals eat logs. However, beavers and porcupines chew on logs to eat the bark and soft fibers between the bark and the wood. Mammals cannot break down the cellulose of wood.
What are plant cell wells composed of?
Plant cell walls are mostly composed of a polysaccaride called cellulose that cannot be digested by most mammals. It is instead broken down by bacteria in the intestines of mammals, such as E. Coli.
What carbohydrate from plant foods cannot be digested by animals and passes through the digestive system?
Cellulose is a complex carbohydrate found in plant cell walls that cannot be digested by any mammal (including humans). This is because mammals lack the enzyme which breaks the β(1,4) linkages found within cellulose.
Is a termite a ruminant animal?
No ruminants are all mammals, a termite is an insect. However both ruminants and termites use symbiotic bacteria to help them digest cellulose in their food.
What does cecum mean?
A cecum (caecum ) is a blind pouch at junction of small and large intestine in man and other mammals Appendex is attached to it . It helps in digestion of cellulose in some hebbivores as in horse .
Why can't Red Pandas digest cellulose?
Because they don't have the enzyme that would allow them to break the beta(1-4) glycosidic bonds in cellulose. They're scarcely alone in this... no mammals, nor indeed any vertebrates (nor most invertebrates) have this enzyme. Those animals that obtain a significant portion of their nutrition from cellulose are doing so with the aid of symbiotic gut bacteria that DO have the necessary enzyme. In mammals, these tend to be ruminants, since the bacteria have to be allowed time to work. Red pandas are not ruminants, and instead rely on eating large quantities of a fairly poor foodstuff in order to extract enough nutrition to survive.
Why might mammals store lipids rather than carbohydrates?
Lipids (fats) are heavier, more calorie dense and are not water soluble...which makes them a better candidate for storage in an animal system...fat is also a great insulator that helps maintain body temperature. Fat is also a better, more flexible for animals which need to move. Plants convert and store carbohydrates in the form of starch and cellulose. Cellulose is structural, not generally flexible...
