While researching cyanobacteria, I came across the idea that marine cyanobacteria extend nanotubes to connect with each other and form a bacterial network. It’s amazing how a network can form in a constantly changing environment like the ocean.
Prochlorococcus, a type of cyanobacteria, is the most abundant photosynthetic organism on Earth, producing nearly 20% of the oxygen in the atmosphere. If the large number of organisms in the ocean form a network, it may be that the oceans of the world are connected by a bacterial network.
It seems that each Prochlorococcus cell can turn into a long, thin, silvery tube to connect to neighboring bacteria, connecting them with three to four bacteria, and sometimes even more than ten. They are connected not only to the same species but also to different species of cyanobacteria, and exchange nutrients such as amino acids and enzymes.
https://wired.jp/article/life-on-earth-depends-on-networks-of-ocean-bacteria
Nanotubes have been found in many bacterial populations, such as Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli, and although they are not large, they are always growing at a constant rate.
Another way to look at nanotubes is as conductive biological nanowires, and Geobacter, an electricity-generating bacterium, uses nanowires to move electrons. Nanowires are about 10 nm in diameter and can be more than 10 times longer than their body length, and methanogens and other organisms are said to connect different species of organisms. Bacterial networks are amazing.
** https://wired.jp/2009/07/07/
Other examples include mycorrhizal networks in forests, where mycorrhizal fungi extend their hyphae to form connections, and slime mold networks, where slime molds fuse their cells to form connections. There are also neural networks, which are nerve networks within living organisms, and one-way vascular networks.
Depending on the need for connectivity, effectiveness, and the need to reach every corner, a network structure may be rational. I feel the amazingness of living things that naturally perform autonomous decentralization.
It seems that the relationship between eating and being eaten is also called a network, but this time I picked up a network that is directly connected physically. It’s interesting to discover that there are actually connections in places that you can’t see. The XX network is amazing. The connections on Earth are amazing.
