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Investigating Bacterial-Fungal Interactions using Fungal Highway Columns in Diverse Environments and Substrates
Published on: January 24, 2025
658
On Boolean gates in fungal colony.
Andrew Adamatzky1, Martin Tegelaar2, Han A B Wosten2
1Unconventional Computing Laboratory, UWE, Bristol, UK.
Bio Systems
|April 8, 2020
Summary
Fungal mycelium networks can perform computations using electrical signals. Researchers encoded binary data with electrical impulses, demonstrating logic gates within the fungal colony.
Area of Science:
- Mycology
- Computational Biology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Fungal colonies maintain integrity through cytoplasmic streaming within mycelium networks.
- Propagation of mycelium tips and cytoplasmic flow are regulated by calcium waves and electrical potential changes.
- These electrical phenomena in fungi offer potential for novel computational substrates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the potential of fungal mycelium networks for implementing computation.
- To model the propagation of excitation waves in Aspergillus niger using the FitzHugh-Nagumo model.
- To identify and analyze logical gate functions within the fungal colony.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the FitzHugh-Nagumo model to simulate excitation propagation in Aspergillus niger.
- Encoded Boolean values using spikes in extracellular potential.
- Applied electrical impulses to specific electrodes to represent binary inputs.
- Recorded colony responses from sixteen electrodes to analyze computational outputs.
Main Results:
- Successfully demonstrated the implementation of logic gates within a fungal colony.
- Derived sets of two-input, one-output logic gates based on electrical signal responses.
- Analyzed the distribution and characteristics of these bio-computational gates.
Conclusions:
- Fungal mycelium networks exhibit capabilities for implementing computational logic.
- Electrical signaling in fungi can be harnessed for bio-computing applications.
- This study provides a foundation for exploring fungi as a platform for novel computing architectures.
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