Diff b/w: monosaccharide, oligosaccharide, polysaccharide?

[leftventricle]

Please help me understand! I'm in grade 12 bio, and I don't get the difference. Mainly between oligo and poly.

[canalon]

mono: one
di-: two
oligo: a few
poly: a lot
The limit between the last 2 groups is not always very clear. If we should believe wikipedia, for saccharides, the break point would be 10 units. For other molecules it might be longer (DNA primers, typically 20 to 30 nt long will still be oligonucleotides)

[leftventricle]

mono: one
di-: two
oligo: a few
poly: a lot
The limit between the last 2 groups is not always very clear. If we should believe wikipedia, for saccharides, the break point would be 10 units. For other molecules it might be longer (DNA primers, typically 20 to 30 nt long will still be oligonucleotides)

Okay so polys are made out of a LOT of monos?

[vinayaksabnis]

mono: one
di-: two
oligo: a few
poly: a lot
The limit between the last 2 groups is not always very clear. If we should believe wikipedia, for saccharides, the break point would be 10 units. For other molecules it might be longer (DNA primers, typically 20 to 30 nt long will still be oligonucleotides)

oligo means 10
and ploy means more then ten
according to me

[JackBean]

not really
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art ... lekey=4625

[leftventricle]

So just to reinforce the point here...polys are made out of a LOT of monos?

[JackBean]

yes

[leftventricle]

I thought I'd just post this question here since it has to do with carbs anyway...

How does the structure of amylose determine it's function in biology?
I know it's not linear, and globular.

How does the structure of amylopectin determine it's function in biology?
I know it's not linear, and globular, and has branches.