Figure 1: Schematics of microbial dextran and mammalian glycogen: glycosidic linkages make the difference. The only source of structural diversity in homopolysaccharides is the glycosidic bonds linking the monosaccharides. This figure illustrates two commonly found polysaccharides – one in microbes and another in mammals. The polysaccharide with α(1→6) linkage is dextran, which is found in many bacteria, including Lactobacillaceae. The polysaccharide with the α(1→4) is glycogen and it is found in mammals as one of the biological energy-storage molecules.