A polysaccharide storage compound found in brown algae, composed primarily of fucose sugars.
From fucose (a type of sugar found in brown algae) with the suffix -an, denoting a polysaccharide polymer. Named in the early 20th century when algal chemistry was systematically studied.
Fucosan is how brown seaweeds store their energy—instead of starch like plants, they make this special sugar polymer, which shows that even single-celled and simple organisms evolve completely different chemistry to accomplish the same goals.
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