Answer:
Glycogen degradation is an important process which provides energy in the form of glucose when the organism is a deficit in glucose concentration.
The glycogen degradation pathway form intermediate compounds which can be utilized by the cell in various forms like glucose 1-phosphate is converted to glucose 6-phosphate (G6P) by phosphoglucomutase.
This is a critical step because it controls other important pathways of the cell-like:
1. Gluconeogenesis: G6P is converted to glucose via gluconeogenesis.
2. Glycolysis: G6P is broken down via the glycolysis pathway.
3. Pentose phosphate pathway: G6P can be oxidized via PPP pathway.
Thus, the formation of an intermediate compound is beneficial to the cell.