Comparing the structure and function of Starch Glycogen and Cellulose.

Starch is the form of carbohydrate which plants store energy as: in small grains
especially in the seeds and storage organs. Starch is made from two
polysaccharides, amylose and amylopectin. The later contains both 1-4 and 1-6
glycosidic bonds, meaning that the long straight chain of a glucose can then wind up
tight into an unbranched helical chain.
Being wound up so tight means you can fit a lot of it in a small space and therefore a
convenient way to store energy. Amylose is unbranced as it consists on only 1-4 glycosidic
bonds.
It is idea that starch is made up of α-glucose, because this means when it
is hydrolysed (broken down) that will be the molecule produced and it is easy to
transport and use in respiration reactions.
Starch is also insoluble, this is good for two reasons: one, it does not tend to
diffuse out of cells; two, it doesn't tend to draw water into cells by osmosis. These
structural components make starch an ideal storage molecule for glucose in plants.
Animals however, have a different storage polysaccharide, sometimes referred to
an animal starch, glycogen.

Glycogen is the form of carbohydrate which animals store energy as: in

small granules especially in the muscles and liver.
It is a polysaccharide made up of α-glucose to make a short and very branched
chain which winds up tight (branched helical chain).
Like starch, glycogen is insoluble. In glycogen the glucose monomers are held
together by both 1-4 and 1-6 glycosidic bonds (much like amylopectin) and so it is
also a branched molecule. Although glycogen is more branched than starch and
thus much shoirter too, making it even more compact. Again this means that the
molecule fits a lot of energy into a small space and releases α-glucose when
hydrolysed, but because it is shorter is is hydrolysed more quickly. Both Starch and
glycogen provide glucose to the organisms when needed acting as perfect storage
polysaccharides, however there is another polysaccharide found in plants which
has a much different structure and function.

Cellulose is found in plant cell walls.

It is a polysaccharide made up of β-glucose. If you have two β-glucose molecules and
perform a condensation reaction, one of the molecules will have to turn up side
down; this is because the order of the OH and the H is reversed on one side, so to
match up it has to be turned round, ie flipped 180 degrees. This fact means that in
a chain of β-glucose the 'CH2OH' group will alternate between being at the top and
the bottom of the chain. The importance of this is that it can't coil up, and it
provides a way for H bonding to form between adjacent chains.
So, the chain is straight and unbranched which means several chains can lie next to
each other; hydrogen bonds will form between these chains creating a strong
'microfibril' (what fibres are made of). These structural differences to the other
two polysaccharides make cellulose the perfect structural component of the plant
cell wall.