I recently learned that the most abundant element on Earth by weight is iron, and the most abundant element on the Earth’s surface is oxygen. Related to this, I thought I’d start by learning about the most abundant organic matter. The most abundant organic matter on Earth is cellulose, which seems to make up one-third of plants. Cellulose is a carbohydrate that makes up the fibrous part of plants, and is made up of glucose bound together.
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/
I never thought of glucose as being strong, but when hundreds to thousands of glucose molecules are combined, it becomes as strong as wood. It’s strange. In fact, it seems that it is the combination of cellulose and lignin that makes it strong, like reinforced concrete. It must be very strong to support a large tree, and when you consider the durability of wood, the combination of cellulose and lignin is amazing.
https://www.hro.or.jp/forest/research/fpri/koho/kids/kinokoto/ki-manabu/arekore5.html
Cellulose is a carbohydrate, but even though it is made from glucose, it is apparently indigestible to humans, and is excreted without being absorbed as dietary fiber. When glucose is combined with starch, it becomes starch, but the way it combines with cellulose is different. If we could eat the cellulose that is abundant on Earth, we wouldn’t have to worry about food.
https://www.bio.mie-u.ac.jp/~karita/sub3.html
Organisms that have the enzyme cellulase, which breaks down cellulose, are snails, gastropods, termites, wood-rotting fungi, etc. Sheep and cows have microorganisms that produce cellulase living in their stomachs. Surprisingly, there aren’t that many types of organisms.
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Cellulose is very difficult to decompose when reinforced with lignin, and only white-rot fungi, a type of wood-rotting fungus, can decompose lignin. White-rot fungi are amazing. Before white-rot fungi appeared 299 million years ago, dead trees were not decomposed but turned into coal under high pressure underground, but after they appeared, trees were decomposed and became part of the nutrient cycle.
https://www.bepal.net/archives/56688
Cellulose forms cell walls that are strong enough to support huge trees and flexible like grass, while allowing small molecules such as water and nutrients to pass through. Cellulose is amazing. Also, for some reason, sea squirts are the only animals that can produce cellulose. Sea squirts are amazing.
https://www.aist.go.jp/aist_j/magazine/bb0027.html
Cellulose is the most abundant organic matter on earth. It is incredibly strong, considering it is made from glucose, and it supports many plants, and through plants, many forms of life on earth, including animals. It’s amazing. The earth is amazing, giving birth to white rot fungi.
