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Any of a variety of polysaccharides found in plant cell walls often in close association with cellulose. Hemicelluloses differ from cellulose in being composed of pentose sugars (arabinose or xylose) or hexose sugars other than glucose (e.g. mannose and galactose). They also differ in that, as well as having a structural function, like cellulose, in cell walls, they can be broken down by enzymes and so act as a nutrient reserve. Cellulose by contrast is metabolically inactive once it has been incorporated into the cell wall.
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