Enlisting synthetic fungal-bacterial consortia to produce multi-cellular mycelium-based ELMs with computational capability

Introduction

Fungateria addresses a development gap in mycelium-based ELMs by developing a portfolio of ELMs that are composed of a synthetic co-cultivation consortium of a filamentous fungus and a bacterial strain.

Technology Overview

Sensing and adaptive growth of the fungal hyphae are exploited to develop an autonomous bottom-up and scalable manufacturing technology called Growth Composing (GC). This technology enables an engineered morphogenesis of mycelium materials using robotically controlled spray nozzles that generate local air, gas, or aerosol flows steering hyphal growth.

Bioprinting Integration

In addition, bioprinting is used to deposit inocula of the engineered bacterial strain in specific patterns and at specific times throughout the production process.

Product Development

Various ELM products are developed, ranging from consumer goods to applications in the environmental and construction sector. These products become active through environmental cues such as:

• Light
• Temperature
• Chemical attractants

Synthetic Biology Engineering

To this end, synthetic biology engineering will be implemented to use the bacterial strain as a chassis for sensor-containing genetic circuits. This will render advanced functionalities to the ELM throughout its life cycle, either through direct activity or by influencing the growth and morphology of the fungal partner.

Activity Verification

ELM activity is verified with probes that reveal bio-electric signaling in the materials, providing additional dimensions of control, monitoring, functionality, and exploitation as actively computing devices.

Degradation Mechanism

When no longer needed or having reached the end of their productive life, kill switches are activated either by human-controlled environmental triggers or triggers of the system itself. This causes the ELM to fully and quickly degrade without causing any negative environmental impact.

Societal Dialogue

Throughout the Fungateria project, a societal dialogue will be established to continuously align research objectives with ethical and regulatory requirements.