Filamentous fungal pellets as versatile platforms for cell immobilization: developments to date and future...

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Biomaterials Science
• Industrial Microbiology

Background:

• Filamentous fungi efficiently produce valuable molecules but their biomass applications are underexplored.
• Fungal biomass serves as a sustainable, food-safe biomaterial for cell immobilization.
• Existing immobilization supports are often synthetic or heavily processed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the state-of-the-art of immobilizing various cell types (animal, yeast, microalgae, bacteria, plant) in filamentous fungal supports.
• To present an outlook on applications in intensified fermentations, food, biofuel production, and wastewater treatment.
• To identify opportunities for future research and development in fungal-based cell immobilization.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive literature review of current research on fungal biomass as a cell immobilization platform.
• Analysis of inter- and intra-kingdom interactions in fungal-cell composite systems.
• Identification of advancements in cell loading optimization on mycelium.

Main Results:

• Filamentous fungal biomass is a versatile and safe support for immobilizing diverse cell types.
• Fungal-cell composites show promise in bioremediation, biomedicine, intensified fermentations, food, biofuel, and wastewater treatment.
• Optimization of cell loading has advanced understanding of fungal-cell interactions.

Conclusions:

• Filamentous fungi represent a unique cellular support with significant potential for creating novel materials and products.
• Further research is needed to elucidate immobilization mechanisms, explore new cell-fungus combinations, and scale up operations.
• Leveraging fungal biomass supports the development of a circular bioeconomy.