Modified recipe to inhibit fruiting body formation for living fungal biomaterial manufacture

PLoS One. 2019 May 13;14(5):e0209812. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209812. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Living fungal mycelium with abolished ability to form fruiting bodies is a self-healing substance, which is particularly valuable for further engineering and development as materials sensing environmental changes and secreting signals. Suppression of fruiting body formation is also a useful tool for maintaining the stability of a mycelium-based material with ease and lower cost. The objective of this study was to provide a biochemical solution to regulate the fruiting body formation, which may replace heat killing of mycelium in practice. The concentrations of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) inhibitors, such as lithium chloride or CHIR99021 trihydrochloride, were found to directly correlate with the development of fruiting bodies in the mushroom forming fungi such as Coprinopsis cinerea and Pleurotus djamor. Sensitive windows to these inhibitors throughout the fungal life cycle were also identified. We suggest the inclusion of GSK-3 inhibitors in the cultivation recipes for inhibiting fruiting body formation and regulating mycelium growth. This is the first report of using a GSK-3 inhibitor to suppress fruiting body formation in living fungal mycelium-based materials. It provides an innovative strategy for easy, reliable, and low cost maintenance of materials containing living fungal mycelium.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Agaricales
  • Biocompatible Materials / metabolism*
  • Biomarkers
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Fruiting Bodies, Fungal / drug effects
  • Fruiting Bodies, Fungal / physiology*
  • Fungi / physiology*
  • Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Lithium Chloride / pharmacology
  • Mycelium / drug effects
  • Mycelium / growth & development

Substances

  • Biocompatible Materials
  • Biomarkers
  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3
  • Lithium Chloride

Grants and funding

This work was supported by and the publication fee is funded by the RGC General Research Fund (GRF14103817 and GRF14107514 to HSK) of the Research Grants Council of the HKSAR, PRC. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.