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Filamentous fungi of the phylum Basidiomycota are considered as an attractive source for the biotechnological production of composite materials. The ability of many basidiomycetes to accept residual lignocellulosic plant biomass from agriculture and forestry such as straw, shives and sawdust as substrates and to bind and glue together these otherwise loose but reinforcing substrate particles into their mycelial network, makes them ideal candidates to produce biological composites to replace petroleum-based synthetic plastics and foams in the near future.Here, we describe for the first time the application potential of the tinder fungus Fomes fomentarius for lab-scale production of mycelium composites. We used fine, medium and coarse particle fractions of hemp shives and rapeseed straw to produce a set of diverse composite materials and show that the mechanical materials properties are dependent on the nature and particle size of the substrates. Compression tests and scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize composite material properties and to model their compression behaviour by numerical simulations. Their properties were compared amongst each other and with the benchmark expanded polystyrene (EPS), a petroleum-based foam used for thermal isolation in the construction industry. Our analyses uncovered that EPS shows an elastic modulus of 2.37 ± 0.17 MPa which is 4-times higher compared to the F. fomentarius composite materials whereas the compressive strength of 0.09 ± 0.003 MPa is in the range of the fungal composite material. However, when comparing the ability to take up compressive forces at higher strain values, the fungal composites performed better than EPS. Hemp-shive based composites were able to resist a compressive force of 0.2 MPa at 50% compression, rapeseed composites 0.3 MPa but EPS only 0.15 MPa.The data obtained in this study suggest that F. fomentarius constitutes a promising cell factory for the future production of fungal composite materials with similar mechanical behaviour as synthetic foams such as EPS. Future work will focus on designing materials characteristics through optimizing substrate properties, cultivation conditions and by modulating growth and cell wall composition of F. fomentarius, i.e. factors that contribute on the meso- and microscale level to the composite behaviour.

Bracket fungisuch as Fomes fomentarius(“tinder fungus”), have strong, light and tough fruit bodies that make them interesting role-models for bio-inspired, biodegradable applications. So far, little is known about the relation between their microstructure and mechanical properties, information needed for designing novel composites. The fruit bodies (mycelia) of tinder fungus are hierarchically structured honeycomb foams. The mycelium has a transversely isotropic microstructure with open porosity on the nano- and micro-length scales. The lowest resolution porosity appears as elongated tubes that extend from beneath the woody upper surface down towards the lower side that faces the ground. The tube walls are made of a network of hollow, fibrous cells (hyphae), mainly consisting of chitin. When tested mechanically, the material shows the typical compressive stress/strain curve of foams, where an initially linear course is followed by an extended plateau region. The as-harvested material exhibits pronounced viscoelastic recovery, but the tube walls are visibly damaged. Compared with the transverse direction, the load-bearing capability and energy absorption parallel to the tube long axis are ~ 5 and ~ 10 times higher, respectively. Unexpectedly however, the energy absorption efficiency is similar for both loading directions. Buckling of the tubes and cracking of their walls are the main damage mechanisms, and the damage zones coalesce into deformation bands as it is typical for foams. Drying leads to ~ 7 times higher plateau stresses, damage becomes extensive, and the mycelium loses its viscoelastic recovery capability. Interestingly, rehydration restores the properties of the wet state. It is compelling to imagine an adaptive role to natural dry/wet conditions.

The attachment of bacteria and other microbes to natural and artificial surfaces leads to the development of biofilms, which can further cause nosocomial infections. Thus, an important field of research is the development of new materials capable of preventing the initial adhesion of pathogenic microorganisms. In this work, novel polymer/particle composite materials, based on a polythiourethane (PTU) matrix and either spherical (s-ZnO) or tetrapodal (t-ZnO) shaped ZnO fillers, were developed and characterized with respect to their mechanical, chemical and surface properties. To then evaluate their potential as anti-fouling surfaces, the adhesion of two different pathogenic microorganism species, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida glabrata, was studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Our results show that the adhesion of both S. aureus and C. glabrata to PTU and PTU/ZnO is decreased compared to a model surface polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). It was furthermore found that the amount of both s-ZnO and t-ZnO filler had a direct influence on the adhesion of S. aureus, as increasing amounts of ZnO particles resulted in reduced adhesion of the cells. For both microorganisms, material composites with 5 wt.% of t-ZnO particles showed the greatest potential for anti-fouling with significantly decreased adhesion of cells. Altogether, both pathogens exhibit a reduced capacity to adhere to the newly developed nanomaterials used in this study, thus showing their potential for bio-medical applications.