Discovering the Biomechanics of Filamentous Fungi and their Hyphae

发现丝状真菌及其菌丝的生物力学

• 批准号: 2233973
• 负责人: STEVEN NALEWAY
• 金额: $ 50.91万
• 依托单位: University of Utah
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-05-01 至 2026-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2233973&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Discovering; Biomechanics; Filamentous; Fungi; their

There has been a recent explosion of interest in fungi-based and fungi-inspired materials for a variety of applications, such as environmentally friendly packaging and structural materials, textiles and leather alternatives, and advanced filtration materials. This has, in large part, been driven by the combination of the impressive mechanical and structural properties that filamentous fungi possess and the potential for them to be produced. Despite this interest, there is a significant lack of understanding on the fundamental structures and mechanics that allow filamentous fungi to provide their mechanical properties. This award supports the fundamental research into the biomechanics of filamentous fungi and their cellular building blocks, hyphae, using combined experimental and theoretical approaches. This knowledge base will provide a foundation for future scientific research and commercial ventures into mycology, fungi-inspired materials, and environmentally friendly fungi-derived materials. In addition, this award will train two graduate students and numerous undergraduate student researchers who will gain valuable interdisciplinary research experience. This award will also directly fund educational and research opportunities for women in STEM to produce science and mycology-focused educational videos with the goal of inspiring the next generation of women scientists.The objective of this award is to conduct basic research on the biomechanics of filamentous fungi from the cellular- to macro-scales. Genetically similar filamentous fungi will be tested in both a harvested (i.e., sourced from their natural environment) and in-vitro cultured states. These hierarchical studies will focus on both macroscopic sporocarps (i.e., mushrooms) and microscopic hyphae (the cellular building blocks of filamentous fungi). At both length scales, microstructural analysis through light and electron microscopy, micro-computed tomography, and focused ion beam sectioning will be combined with chemical analysis via energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and thermogravimetric analysis to understand the filamentous fungal structure. Further mechanical loading tests will be conducted to understand the structure-property relationships of filamentous fungi. These experimental results will be theoretically analyzed to understand the constitutive biomechanical equations that govern the structure-mechanical property relationships in filamentous fungi. The multiscale biomechanics understanding of the filamentous fungi will bridge the current knowledge gap in the future design of fungi-based and fungi-inspired materials.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

最近，人们对基于真菌和真菌风格的材料引起了兴趣，用于各种应用，例如环保包装和结构材料，纺织品和皮革替代品，以及先进的过滤材料。在很大程度上，这是由丝状真菌具有令人印象深刻的机械和结构特性的组合以及产生它们的潜力的组合所驱动的。尽管有这种兴趣，但对允许丝状真菌提供其力学特性的基本结构和力学缺乏理解。该奖项支持对丝状真菌的生物力学及其细胞构建块菌丝的基础研究，并使用合并的实验和理论方法。该知识基础将为未来的科学研究和商业企业提供基础，从而进入真菌学，真菌风格的材料以及环保的真菌衍生的材料。此外，该奖项将培训两名研究生和众多本科生研究人员，他们将获得宝贵的跨学科研究经验。该奖项还将直接为STEM中的女性提供教育和研究机会，以制作科学和注重的教育视频，以启发下一代女性科学家。该奖项的目的是对丝状真菌的生物力学进行基础研究。遗传上相似的丝状真菌将在收获的（即来自其自然环境）和体外培养状态下进行测试。这些分层研究将集中于宏观孢子果（即蘑菇）和微观菌丝（丝状真菌的细胞构建块）。在两个长度尺度上，通过光和电子显微镜，微型计算层析成像和聚焦离子束分段分析将与化学分析结合通过能量分散性X射线光谱，质谱和热重量表分析，以了解丝状真菌结构。将进行进一步的机械载荷测试，以了解丝状真菌的结构性质关系。这些实验结果将在理论上进行分析，以了解控制丝状真菌中结构机械性质关系的组成型生物力学方程。对丝状真菌的多尺度生物力学理解将弥合基于真菌和真菌启发的材料的未来设计中的当前知识差距。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准通过评估来进行评估的。