MinuteEarth

Why Don't More Animals Eat Wood?

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To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:

  • Xylophagy: the eating of wood
  • Lignin: a class of complex organic polymers that form key structural materials in the support tissues of vascular plants and help make wood rigid.
  • Cellulose: a polysaccharide consisting of chains of glucose monomers, which is the main constituent of plant cell walls.
  • Lignin oxidation: a depolymerization method to break bonds in lignin molecules such as ether or carbon–carbon bonds by applying an oxidant such as oxygen.
  • Depolymerization: the process of breaking down a polymer, such as lignin, into simpler monomers
  • Trichonympha agilis: a specialized protist that lives in the hindguts of many termite species that breaks down the cellulose in the wood they eat and may contribute to the lignin oxidation process.

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