Examining the behaviour of fungal cells in microconfined mazelike structures

Filamentous fungi like Neurospora crassa are a large and evolutionary successful group of organisms that can efficiently colonise microconfined networks like soil, wood, leaf litter, plant and animal tissues. Growth of the fungus Neurospora crassa was monitored for three-dimensional interactions with artificial profiled surface and two-dimensional interactions with a patterned surface. Specific growth parameters that included branching angles and branching distances were used to measure the responses of growing hyphae to the confining features. In three dimensional microfluidic and mazelike structures, changes in the growth parameters were observed and revealed an exceptional directional memory by growing hyphae that was maintained over long distances. Comparison with data from a previous study using another species revealed that different fungal species exhibit surprisingly specific sets of growth parameters. A second set of experiments showed that Neurospora crassa had a distinct affinity to edges and tips. On a surface covered with microscale pyramids, hyphae balanced on and bridged between tips.